Love Walks In
by khughes830
Summary: Zach throws a party at Bianca's request for New Years, so she can do her best to reconcile Zach and Kendall.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **These characters aren't mine. Believe me, if they were... well, it would be "don't let the door hit you on the way out, Lavery!"  
**A/N: **What I want for New Years! It's a new story not really based on anything - takes place after jackass... I mean Ryan... showed up at the hotel!

* * *

He was busy reading a file when he felt a pair of eyes boring into his head. He looked up and saw her standing in his doorway.

"Kendall?"

She just smiled and shut the door. She dropped her purse on his couch and made her way next to his chair.

He was trying to interrupt the look on her face, but he was struggling.

"Kendall, do you need…"

She silenced him by putting her forefinger on his lips. She turned his chair toward her and sat down in his lap. Every thought left his head in that moment and all he was able to do was stare at her.

She smiled shyly at him and closed the tiny distance that separated his lips from hers.

He found himself to be on fire as she kissed him. Any hesitation, any reservations he had had about the two of them were gone in that instance. He wrapped his arms around her and moaned when she deepened the kiss.

He put an arm under her legs and carried her over to the couch. He laid her out on the couch and looked at her. She smiled brightly at him and all he saw in her eyes was love. It was almost too much for him to handle. He smiled back at her and lay down next to her. He ran his fingers through her hair. He looked up and down her body several times and then looked back at her lips, lips that were screaming to be kissed again. He watched as she licked her lips and moved in slowly, so they could resume what they had just been doing and maybe…

"Mr. Slater?"

Zach jolted awake and saw Edie, his assistant, staring down at him.

"Edie?"

"Yeah, Mr. Slater. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but it's almost 7:30 and the guests will be…"

Zach sat up and rubbed his eyes. "That was a dream?"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

He looked up at Edie. "Was Mrs. Slater here when you walked in?"

"Um… no Sir… I… well… Mrs. Slater hasn't been in the casino in at least a week or so. Would you like me to call her for you?"

"No, it's fine. What were you saying?"

"Well, its 7:30 and your guests will be arriving soon, so you need to go up to the suite and get changed…"

Zach stood up and groaned – he had forgotten about the New Year's Eve party. How Bianca had managed to talk him into it, he would never understand, but she had, so here he was.

"My tux is upstairs?"

"Yes Sir. May I ask you something?"

He just looked at Edie. She had been with him a long time and knew when something was off.

He leaned against his desk. "Sure."

"When was the last time you went home?"

"Edie, don't start with this again."

"Sir, it's just that… well, I don't mind running to your condo and getting your mail and what not, but it can't be good for you to be sleeping on this couch" she said, pointing to the leather sofa he had just woken up on.

"That's why I've got the suite."

"And the last time you slept up there was…"

"Ok, time for you to stop talking now."

"Yes Sir. Would you like me to have room service send you anything up?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Sir, really, I haven't seen you eat in…"

"Ok, ok, ok. I give up. I promise to gorge myself on the buffet tonight – will that get you to back off?"

Edie smirked at her boss. "For now."

"Great!"

Edie left the room and Zach stood up and looked back at the couch, remembering the dream that seemed so vivid just a few minutes ago.

Zach just shook his head and left his office, hoping a steaming hot shower and shot of scotch would make this latest dream go away. He had quit sleeping in the suite three days ago after the last dream had him searching the room and the floor for her, hoping she really had been there, but she hadn't. He hadn't talked to her for almost two weeks. He had promised her space and space he would give.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: see disclaimer in the first chapter. Enjoy and have a great holiday!_**

* * *

Everyone seemed to be vying for his attention, but he was less than interested, to say the least. Edie had all but dragged him from the suite 20 minutes ago, with the threat of bodily harm if, as she put it, 'didn't get his ass to the ballroom immediately!'

The scalding hot shower and four shots of scotch had done nothing to erase the image of her from his head. He was currently pretending to be interested in what one of the board of directors of Chandler Enterprises was prattling on about, but he had quite listening to him some time ago. He only broke out of his reverie when he felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I hate to interrupt, but Mr. Slater is needed…"

"Excuse me. Have a good time."

He gave the men a fake smile and moved across the room with Edie. She stopped at a table in the back of the room.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. Sit."

That's when he looked down at the table and saw the huge plate of food sitting there.

He smiled sadly at his assistant. "Edie, thanks, I appreciate…"

"Sir."

".. But I'm not really…"

"Sir."

"… I'm just going to go get a…"

"ZACH!" she said loudly. Rarely did she call him by his first name, only when she really needed to get his attention. This made him stop and stare at her.

"You are going to sit down and eat something. I've picked up everything you like. Eat till you can't eat anymore and then take a few more bites, alright. I'll go get you a drink."

With that, Edie was off to the bar. He sat down and looked at the food and realized how hungry he was. She really had gotten everything he liked, so he dug in.

"That's quite a meal you've got there, Zach."

He looked up and saw Bianca standing across from him, looking stunning in a dark red chiffon ball gown, a glass of wine in one hand and a plate of food in another.

"Mind if I join you?"

He stood up, gave her a kiss on the cheek and pulled a chair out for her.

"This is quite a party you've got going on here, Zach."

He smiled at her. "Yeah, it would seem you and Edie did a great job in the planning."

She smiled and returned to her food. He stared at her, dying to know, but not sure how to ask. It was like she was able to read her mind.

"Yeah, we just got here a few minutes ago. I just had to head on in to get some food since I was starving, but you know my sister, always needing to make an entrance…"

Bianca looked up at him, but he was no longer listening to what she was saying. He was solely focused on the incoming crowd, on one person in particular.

She took his breath away. He literally could not breathe when she entered the room. He had never seen that dress before, the beautiful navy blue silk halter dress she was wearing, but it was the most perfect thing had ever seen. He watched her as she stood there, surveying the room like it was her own personal domain, like she owned the place – which she did, but that was beside the point, in his mind. He watched as Simone came in and said something, trying to make her laugh, but he could see that the smile didn't reach her eyes and that broke his heart. He could only stare as Ethan guided the two of them to a nearby table and went to get them drinks. His food got cold as he watched her pick at the food Simone brought her from the buffet and he started to worry about her. All he wanted to do was reach out and touch her – just a brief contact with her so that she knew that she still had him, no matter what, but he couldn't make himself move from his seat.

He felt Bianca move across the table and sit down next to him.

"You should have seen her getting ready for this party. We must have spent all day at Lacy's, looking for that dress. She must have tried on everything! And then, I had to all but drag her out of the bathroom so I could get myself put together. I tried all day to figure out why. You got any ideas?"

Zach looked over at Bianca, who was smiling deviously at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"Now, why would I know anything about your sister's actions today?"

Bianca just shrugged and smiled into her glass of wine as she took a sip. She slid her eyes over to Zach as he returned to watching her sister, who had pulled her jacket off the back of her chair and was heading toward the French doors.

He wanted to move, to run to her, but something was stopping him. Maybe it was the dreams, maybe it was the thought of her telling him that she didn't need him anymore, that she didn't love him or even care for him at all.

Bianca could see him hesitating. She leaned over and whispered in his ear "You know, Zach, one of us should probably go check on her and…"

That's all it took. He shot out of his chair and was around the table before he realized he was leaving Bianca alone. He turned and looked back at her and was about to speak when she waved him on.

"Go! I'm a big girl. I'll be fine."

He smiled at her and shot across the room. Bianca toasted herself for a manipulation well done and headed back to join Simone and Ethan at their table.

Zach stopped in front of the French doors and stared her, sitting on a bench, lost in thought. He took a deep breath, opened the doors and headed toward her.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimers in chapter 1. Also, Bianca is only doing what I cannot. Enjoy!_**

* * *

She had had this feeling in the pit of her stomach all day. She had no idea this is where she was going to end up tonight. Miranda had woken her up quite early this morning at her mother's urging. Bianca made them all breakfast and then told Kendall that they had to go shopping.

"_What for? You need more presents than we bought yesterday."_

_Bianca, facing away from her sister, just smirked. "Yeah, I forgot to buy a dress."_

_"For what?"_

_"The casino's New Years party tonight." Bianca turned and faced her sister, trying her best to keep that completely innocent look on her face. "Did I not mention that to you yesterday?"_

_Kendall's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide and that feeling was back. She hadn't felt it since she stomped out of the suite on the island. She thought she had beaten it, but, nope, there it was again!_

_"What… when… ok, what?"_

_"Do you need a new dress? I hear it's going to be a very fancy shindig – the women in beautiful dresses and the men, all the men, in tuxedos. I mean, all the guys are going to look really good, don't you think? Ethan, Jack, Aidan, JR, Reggie…" Bianca specifically left one name off that list, hoping that Kendall would pick it up._

_And pick it up she did. The vision of Zack in a tuxedo popped into her head. Just the thought of him like that made her want to run across the courtyard and see if he was home._

_Kendall shot out of her chair and made a beeline for her bedroom._

_"You alright Kendall?"_

_"I've got to get showered and dressed. We have to... I don't… I NEED A DRESS!" Kendall yelled at the top of her lungs._

_Bianca heard the shower go on and giggled to herself. "That was almost too easy" Bianca said to her daughter, as she finished cleaning up the plates and pans._

So, she found herself here, in this fantastic dress, nervous as all get out. She had spotted him across the room, sitting with Bianca. She tried to ignore him. Simone brought her food, Ethan told her lame jokes, but nothing seemed to be working. She suddenly found herself needing fresh air.

She wondered if she had really screwed everything up. She should have just told Ryan to go to hell and thrown him out of the hotel. She should have stayed on the island with him or moved to Las Vegas or anywhere – just him and her anywhere but Pine Valley, but her ego and pride got in the way. Hell, she didn't know if she was still married to him or not.

"You look tired."

His voice startled her and her head shot up to see him standing at the doors, hands shoved in his pockets.

Normally, that remark would have sent her into a fit. She would have started a fight with him, since that's what they did. They sparred. But, tonight, seeing him like this, the fight was gone. She didn't want to fight him anymore, fight what she felt anymore. She was, for once, going to do what she wanted to do, not what anyone else was pushing her to do. That's all she had done recently – give for others and put her life on hold and look where that got her.

"I am Zach."

He sat down next to her. He could tell she wanted to say something else, and he would wait all night for her to say it if he had to.

Kendall sighed and looked up at the sky.

"This night makes me tired. Every year, this night just forces you to relive the previous year and remember what you have done. Can't say this past year is going to rank near the top of the list. I just usually find myself on New Year's Eve hoping that the next year will be better than the year before, but it always seems to turn out the same or even worse. I always think 'man, this year has got to be the worst. I've got nowhere to go but up, right?' but it never seems to pan out right. You think next year will be a better year?"

She turned and looked at him. He had been staring at her this whole time, wondering where his spunky, take on the world Kendall had gone to.

He scooted closer to her and put his arm lightly around her shoulder. "Next year can be whatever you want it to be. What do you want next year to be?"

"I want my life back. I want to do what I want to do. I want to go where I want without having to worry what Greenlee is going to say. I want to make decisions without Erica feeling like she needs to be my appeals court. I want to be with…" she voice died off as she took him in. She was right – he looked fantastic in his tuxedo, so good that she shivered a bit.

Thinking that she was cold because of the shiver, he pulled her in a bit more to his body. "You want to be with?"

"I want to be with whomever I want without worrying about Ryan busting down the door" she said in barely a whisper.

That made him smile a bit, thinking back to those two fantastic days on the island. "Then do it. You deserve whatever you want and you deserve to get it on your terms. I've watched you give up so much for these people… it's about time you take back a little bit, in my opinion."

She smiled back at him. "That's very good advice, Mr. Slater."

"Why thank you."

He rubbed her shoulder with his hand, trying to keep her warm. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the contact with him. She had missed being able to touch him, him touching her. She had missed his smile, his scent, his wickedly handsome brown eyes.

"I almost forgot, Kendall, I have a Christmas gift for you."

Her eyes shot open in shock. "You do?"

"Of course. What kind of husband would I be if I didn't buy my wife a Christmas present? Could you even imagine?"

'Wife' – not ex-wife, but wife. That made her smile like she hadn't smiled since their lobster dinner. "Not at all. So…"

"What?"

"My gift please" she said, holding out her hand.

Zach smiled and reached into his coat pocket, feeling for the box, but suddenly realized that he hadn't grabbed it.

"Ok, so I'm a slightly bad husband. I left it in the suite."

"Well then, looks like we are going to have to go retrieve it now, aren't we?"

"Now?" he said as she stood up.

"Yes now. Never tell a woman she has a gift waiting if you want her attention somewhere else" she said as he got up off the bench.

"Words to live by" he said, chuckling as they walked inside, through the party and toward the elevators.

* * *

They didn't even notice him as they walked through the lobby toward the elevators, but he was seen by someone else who wanted to make damn sure there was no repeat of the island.

"Ken…"

"HEY RYAN!" Bianca yelled, drowning out his yell for her sister.

"Oh my god! Bianca? Wow, I didn't even know you were in town!" he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, it was kind of a last minute trip – I didn't give anyone a lot of notice" she said, side stepping with him as he tried to get around her.

"Well, you know, we should have lunch tomorrow, but I really need to talk to your…"

"Hey, could you help me out with something, real quick?" she asked, dragging him back toward the main entrance and out the door.

They stood in the portico as Bianca waved to someone.

"Umm… ok, is this going to take long, because I really need to…"

"Oh no, I just need you to help me with something from the car and then you are free to go!"

A black sedan pulled up. A large man got out of the passenger seat and opened the back door. With all her might, Bianca shoved Ryan into the car and slammed the door shut.

"LOCK THE DOORS" she yelled to the driver.

She heard Ryan struggling with the doors inside the car as she turned to the man who opened the door.

"Leon, take him back to the Pine Cone and watch him till the morning. If he tries to leave, break his legs."

"Yes, Miss Montgomery" he said as he climbed back in the car. Bianca watched as the car peeled out of the casino's parking lot and back toward the Pine Cone.

"Was that Ryan?" Bianca heard her mother ask as she headed back inside.

"Nope, I haven't seen Ryan" Bianca said, smiling at her mother.

"That's strange. I told him that Kendall would be here tonight if he wanted to talk to her. I can't believe he hasn't shown up yet."

"Well, you know Ryan. He doesn't always make the smartest decisions" Bianca said as she lead her mother back toward the party, quickly eyeing the elevators as they walked past them, knowing she would get all the juicy details in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimers in chapter 1. Enjoy! The song is "Have a Little Faith in Me" by John Hiatt/Mandy Moore/anyone else who's ever covered the song._**

* * *

They fell into a comfortable silence as they rode the elevator and walked toward the suite. She caught him checking her out several times, but she was just as guilty. He really did look fantastic in that tuxedo.

They got to the door of his suite. As he was about to open the door, he looked her up and down one more time.

"You really do look gorgeous tonight. I'm not sure if I said so, but I wanted to make sure I did."

She couldn't say anything in response, not when he looked at her in that way, with a wisp of smile on his face and with a different kind of light in his eyes. All she could do was smile, but he seemed fine with that.

He opened the door for her. She stopped short and he ran into the back of her. Zach barely recognized the room and checked the door number on the outside of the door just to make sure he was in the right room.

There was chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling cider on a room service cart in the living room. Candles were on every available surface. Someone had taken the time to light them all and to pull back the curtains so they could admire the view.

She glanced up over her shoulder and stared at him.

"You… did… you did this? For me?"

He saw the look on her face and immediately cursed himself for not doing his himself. He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled as she leaned back into him.

"I wish I could take credit for this, but I am just as surprised as you are" he whispered into her ear.

She turned to face him and found her lips millimeters away from his.

"So, what you are saying is that your fairy godmother did all this?" she whispered back.

"It would seem so."

"Think this anonymous godmother left a clue?"

He smiled as she walked over to the table and picked up the note from the middle. He just watched her move across the room, like she was gliding on air. How she managed to take his breath away doing the most mundane things, he would never understand.

Kendall read the note and smiled as she turned back toward him.

"Seems we both have a fairy godmother" she said, holding up the small piece of paper.

Zach walked up next to her and took the note from her hand.

_'Enjoy your evening. – Bianca'_

"I didn't realize your sister could be so devious and manipulative."

Kendall just smiled. "Me neither. I was wondering what Kane gene she had gotten. Seems we just discovered it."

Kendall looked back down at the table and noticed a note with Zach's name on it.

"Seems you have a personal note of your own."

Zach took the paper and read the short note inside.

_'Boss, when you feel like it, hit play on the CD player. – Edie'_

Zach smiled and put the note in his pocket. He laughed out loud when he looked at Kendall, who was filling one of the small plates up with the strawberries.

"You going to leave any for me?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Oh, did you want some?"

"Maybe one or two, if you don't mind. Want a drink?"

"Sure."

He poured the cider into the flutes and handed on to Kendall. She took the glass from him and walked over to the windows. He couldn't help but follow. He had done it for months, so it was a second nature to him now.

They stood there for several minutes, silently enjoying the view and being with each other without any interruptions. Very rarely were they together without someone rudely interrupting them and Kendall was about tired of it.

She set her glass on the window sill and turned toward him.

"Do you need to get back to your party?"

"Not really. It's not so much my party as it is a party that Bianca and Edie talked me into allowing them to plan."

"So… well… umm…"

Zach just smiled. He had learned this about her – that she stuttered and bit her lip when she wanted to say something but was scared to.

"What, Kendall?"

She looked up at him and he saw apprehension in her eyes.

"You don't need to get back?"

"No."

She smiled brightly at him and it warmed his heart.

Kendall looked around the room. "You know, this is quite a romantic setting my sister came up with."

"I would agree with that."

She looked back at him and took a step closer. "So, now what?"

His breath caught in his throat. The way she was looking at him – it made it hard for him to breathe. A million things raced through his head when he suddenly remembered Edie's note.

"How about a dance?"

She smiled and nodded. Zach walked over to the CD player and, since his assistant who was about to get a huge raise was thoughtful enough to turn the power on, he hit play, just as he had been instructed.

The opening strands to "Have a Little Faith in Me" started to play as he reached out his hand to her. She put her hand into his and melted into him as he pulled her into his embrace.

_When the road is dark_

_And you can no longer see_

_Just let my love throw a spark_

_And have a little faith in me_

_And when the tears you cry_

_Are all you can believe _

_Just give these loving arms a try_

_And have a little faith in me_

She couldn't remember a time when she felt so at peace. They were barely moving anymore, just swaying to the music and holding on to each other as tightly as they could.

'_Cause I've been loving you for such a long, long time_

_Expecting nothing in return_

_Just for you to have a little faith in me_

_You see time, time is our friend_

'_Cause for us there is no end_

_And all you gotta do is have a little faith in me_

She pulled back slightly so she could look at him. The look on his face was a look she had never seen before and in that instant she knew there was no more pretending, no more misdirection. It was now or never for her, for them.

She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled when he shuddered slightly.

"Zach?"

He could do nothing but stare at her.

"Zach… say it again. Tell me again."

He was confused and unsure of what she wanted. "I'm not sure…"

She tightened her arms a little more around his neck and felt her knees about buckle when he did the same.

"Third time's the charm, Zach. Just say it one more time. Give me a chance to… just… say it one more time. Please."

He knew what she wanted and he felt his heart flip flop.

He pulled her as close as he could till there was no space between the two of them. He rested her forehead against hers for a moment before pulling back to look into her eyes. He saw that look, what she had been hiding from him all this time and he knew this time, it would be different.

"I love you Kendall."

"I love you Zach."

And, before he knew what was happening, she closed the distance between their lips.

Tbc….


	5. Chapter 5

**_Disclaimers in chapter 1. Enjoy!_**

* * *

All he knew in that moment was Kendall and how it felt to have her kissing him, to have her running her fingers through his hair, to feel the heat of her body so close to his. When she swiped her tongue across his lower lip, he gladly obliged. The kiss turned into a passionate duel between the two of them. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up and take her into the bedroom and make love to her till he passed out, but he knew that this confession wasn't the end of things. They needed to talk; they needed to understand each other.

When he felt her take off his bow tie and undo the top button on his shirt, he knew he needed to stop, so he pulled out of the kiss. He laughed as she tried to follow his lips to resume the kissing. When she finally opened her eyes to see him not kissing her, she started to pout.

"Ok, you are going to have to stop that."

"Stop what?"

"That incredibly sexy, irresistible pout thing you do when you want to drive me crazy. You need to stop it now."

"Why?" she said, making the pout more pronounced.

"Because it's going to make it very, very, very difficult to let you go for a moment."

She leaned back into him. "Exactly."

"Kendall, believe me, there is nothing else I would rather do right now, but we need to…"

"Talk" she whispered, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, talk."

"Yeah" she said as she untangled her fingers from his hair. He groaned as she walked seductively over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs so that the slit of the dress fell open and showed a lot of leg.

He ran his fingers through his hair and started looking around the room.

"Something wrong?" she purred at him. He gave her a not so serious glare.

"You need to behave."

"Maybe tomorrow" she said, twirling a strand of hair through her fingers. "So, are you going to join me?"

"Give me a minute."

She watched him glance around the room again before he walked over to the phone. He punched in a few numbers.

"Yeah, this is Slater. I need you to put a do not disturb on this number and make sure that everyone knows that if they try to call me, they are fired immediately. Seriously, unless the building is on fire… great, seems we are on the same page. Good night."

Zach then opened up the desk drawer and pulled out a pen and piece of paper. He scribbled something on it and grabbed a knife off the room service cart. Kendall laughed loudly as he stabbed the piece of paper onto the door and put the do not disturb sign on the knob before locking them into the room.

"What did it say?"

"Knock on this door before daylight and I will either fire you or kill you with my bare hands."

"Catchy!"

"Isn't it" he said, smiling. "Where's your cell phone?"

She pointed to her purse on one of the end tables. He pulled his out of his jacket and turned his off before doing the same to hers. He opened a desk drawer and dropped them in.

"Well, I think that about does it."

Kendall cocked an eyebrow and patted the couch cushion. He started toward her, but stopped short. His eyes darted toward the bedroom door.

"Just… give me… don't move."

She stared as he darted into the bedroom. She heard him rustling through a bag. He was back quickly and made his way across the room to her. She thought he was going to sit next to her, but instead he placed one arm around her waist and another under her legs and picked her up. She squealed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He turned around and sat back down where she had been. He kept one arm under her waist and used the other hand to adjust the pillows behind her so that she was comfortable sitting in his lap. Kendall couldn't imagine being any more comfortable.

"Zach…"

"Can I start?"

She just nodded.

He took a couple of deep breaths before starting in.

"I didn't get the divorce. I couldn't do it. I mean, I was there, standing at the court house with that attorney, ready to file, but I couldn't do it. I had to know… you had something else you want to stay to me before…."

"Ry…"

He placed his index finger over her lips before she could finish the name. "Let's just not… maybe some things are better left unsaid right now."

Kendall just nodded.

"I just felt like we had unfinished business. I just couldn't get the divorce until I knew what you wanted to say to me. It felt wrong. I kept the papers. I was going to either file them or burn them after we had a chance to talk. I do love you, Kendall, believe in that. I don't want to divorce you, but this sham of marriage we entered into isn't working for me anymore. I meant what I said after Thanksgiving – no end, no limit, no fear. This is you and me. You're a Kane woman and I can be a complete bastard most of the time. This is going to be hard, but a good kind of hard. I'm not going to change who I am because I fell in love with you, but you do bring out a part of me that I didn't know existed, a part of me that wasn't there with Ma…"

Kendall placed her index finger over his lips, this time. "Things better left unsaid, you remember?"

He smiled. "Yes. My bad. We don't need to look back, just forward. This is me and you now. Most people aren't going to be supportive. Most people…"

"You know, you can just say her name, Zach."

"Ok, then, Erica is going to do everything she can to drive a wedge between us, but if you want this, if you want us, a real us, then I'm willing to battle Erica and Jackson and… well, those we agreed not to mention tonight because you are more than worth it."

She smiled and placed her hand on his face.

"I'm willing to battle Erica, Jackson, JR, and all of Pine Valley because you are worth it too. I love you. I didn't know this kind of passionate, infuriating, completely exhilarating kind of love existed, but here it is, and I'm right in the middle of it. I wanted to tell you that on the island. I wanted to tell you that after the fire, before the fire, every time we counted money together, but I couldn't. I didn't trust myself to follow through and I didn't think I could trust you with my heart. And then, well, things imploded on Thanksgiving and I thought I would be better off alone. I was determined not to let anyone else in after Greenlee left… but there you were, always in face and in my space and I found myself loving it. I wanted… no, I needed you to be around and to be around you. Not having seen you over the last week has been heart breaking. I want us. I know it's going to be hard, but the way I see it, the passionate fights will lead to very passionate making up, and that is something I can completely get behind."

That made Zach laugh loudly.

"But, Zach, what about… what about the baby?"

He looked down at her stomach, where this gift of a child was growing. He looked back in her eyes and saw that the apprehension was back.

"I'm here for you, Kendall. You are a smart and savvy woman. You know what you want and what you are ready for. Once again, who could know what's in your heart better than you. If you don't want to have the baby, I'm here. If you want to have the baby, I'll make it work with Lavery and I'll build a crib for the house and start a day care here at the casino or at Fusion or both. But, I'm here. Nothing you could decide is going to scare me off."

She had tears in her eyes. She desperately tried to keep them at bay as he talked, but listening to all he was willing to do for her and a child that wasn't even his made the tears come. He wiped them away with his thumb as they ran down her face.

"Is that what you wanted to know?"

"That is exactly what I wanted to know."

They smiled at each other and she leaned in to kiss him again, but he pulled back.

"One more thing…"

"What, because it's almost…"

"Your Christmas present" he said as he pulled a small box out of his jacket.

The tears started to fall again as he opened the box and presented her with a beautiful diamond ring.

"I noticed you haven't been wearing the other one, and that's fine. I wanted… well, I thought you should have a proper ring, one that was bought out of unconditional love, not revenge and spite. Do you like it? If not, we can go and…"

"Shut up. It's perfect" she said as she took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. They both stared at the ring and smiled at each other with a look of love that neither one had shown the other before.

Kendall looked at the clock on the wall.

"Well, Mr. Slater, are we about finished with the talking portion of the evening?"

"Why?"

"Well, it's almost midnight, and I thought you might like to… let's just say, celebrate… the New Year with…"

"Mrs. Slater?"

She smiled brightly. "Yeah."

"I think that would be a great idea" he murmured as he leaned in to kiss her again. As the clock chimed midnight, Zach picked his wife up off the couch and carried her toward the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

Most men would have done something klutzy, but not this man, not the super smooth Zach Slater. He managed to maneuver them around the furniture in the living room and into the bedroom, while kicking the door closed with his foot, all while kissing her in a way she had never been kissed before.

Slowly, he lowered her to floor and pulled back from the kiss when his need for oxygen became overpowering.

She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

"Zach, what are…"

"Is this too fast?" he asked. She was in awe. Normally, this man was so sure of himself, so confident you couldn't help but take notice of him. But here, standing in this dark room with her, his feeling exposed for the first time, she could feel the fear and apprehension radiating out of him.

"Zach, no, it's…"

"Because the last thing I want to do is rush. You deserve… I should be showering you with flowers. I should be taking you to glamorous places for dinner and showing you off to the whole town. I should be whisking you away for secret, romantic weekends. I should be the one filling your room with candles and strawberries. I shouldn't need your sister to this for me, to have to show me that you…"

Kendall put her finger against his lips.

"Stop. Please don't second guess any of this. I want this, I want us, I want you. Do I want all that stuff – the flowers, the weekends, the fabulous dates, of course. Do I want that right now? No. All I want right now is you and me to be locked in this room for the foreseeable future without any bad-timed interruptions… oh wait, you've already made that happen. So, I'm good."

The sexy smile on her face made all his doubts disappear immediately.

"I'm also assuming that surprise gifts will also be expected?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much a given."

He laughed and pulled her back into him, hugging her with all his might. He breathed in the scent of her hair. He found himself completely relaxed with her and he loved feeling this way.

Kendall ran her fingers through his hair and placed light kisses on his neck. She smiled slightly when she hit a particularly sensitive area behind his ear and his hands bunched up some of the material on the back of her dress.

Zach pulled back and looked at her face for a moment before kissing her again. This kiss was different. They both knew that this kiss signified their commitment to each other and to this relationship. The kiss was a lot like their relationship – dueling each other for the power position, making sure that the other knew who was in charge.

Zach lifted her off the ground and carried her to the foot of the bed. Just as he was about to lay her out on the bed, he felt her push slightly against his chest.

He stopped kissing her. He was about to say something but she put her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet. She pushed him back a step. She took a moment to look him over and then locked eyes with him. Without breaking eye contact, she gracefully slipped the halter over her head and the dress pooled at her feet. She stepped out of the dress and tossed it across the room.

All rational thought left his head in that moment. It was like she had stepped right out of his fantasy – standing there in front of him in nothing but a navy strapless bra, navy underwear and a pair of silver stiletto heels. His eyes roamed her entire body and could feel his need for her growing inside of him.

She took two steps toward him and smiled shyly. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and down his arms. She caught the jacket and tossed it in the direction she had tossed her dress. She ran her hands up and down his arms several times, feeling the heat radiating through his shirt. She moved her fingers to the front of the shirt and quickly undid all the buttons and slipped the shirt off as well, tossing it toward the ever increasing piles of clothes.

She ran her hands across his chest and the wall that had kept him frozen in those few minutes finally collapsed. He pulled her up off the floor and plundered her mouth with his tongue as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked them around the bed and sat her down on it. He leaned over her and pulled her right leg up and removed her shoe and threw it across the room. He did the same to the other leg. He placed his hands next to her and leaned into her for another kiss.

He was like a drug to her at this point. She needed to have him as soon as possible. She would never know how she managed to go so long without him, without having him in every way imaginable. As she felt him reach around to undo the clasp of her bra, she nimbly undid the button on his pants and slipped his pants and boxers down his legs.

As he grabbed her bra off her body, she scooted back on the bed. He noticed that she was still more dressed than he was. Not to be outdone, he crawled on top of him and grabbed the panties she was wearing with his right hand. He smirked at her for a second before ripping them off her body.

A fiery passion erupted inside of her in that moment. That was by far the sexiest thing a man had ever done to her and she needed him now. She grabbed his face and pulled him down on top of her.

"Those were one of my favorite pair" she said breathlessly as he placed hot, open-mouth kisses on her neck.

He pulled back and looked her squarely in the eye. "I'll buy you one of everything from the store downstairs tomorrow."

"Deal" she said as she pulled him back in for a kiss.

Every nerve in their bodies was on fire. She gasped as he rained kisses on her breasts. He moaned as she licked her way down his chest. As he entered her for the first time, she screamed his name with all the love and passion he had ever wanted.

They spent hours discovering each other, discovering what made the other moan, scream, and gasp in delight. They would finish and all he would have to do is look at her and see the love on her face before he had to have her again.

As the sun started to rise, they collapsed back onto the bed. Zach pulled Kendall right up next to him. She draped her arm over his chest and put her head in the crook of her neck.

They lay quietly like that for a few minutes before he felt Kendall start to giggle.

"Something funny?"

"Well, it just occurred to me that there are probably people next door, across the hall, in the lobby. I can only imagine the show they heard."

She looked up at him and started to laugh along with him.

"Nothing to worry about my dear, it's just your mother and Jackson next door with Lily across the hall."

That sent her into hysterics. They both laughed and held onto each other.

Finally, Kendall calmed down and felt exhaustion wash over her.

"I need sleep."

"You aren't kidding!" he said in reply, shifting so they could get comfortable.

Kendall looked up at this man who had stolen her heart right from under her.

"You love me?"

"Always" he said, pulling her in for a kiss.

She obliged him for a moment and then snuggled against his side. Soon, they were both drifting off to a very blissful and satisfied sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was streaming through the window when Kendall stirred in bed. For a moment she forgot where she was till she realized the pillow she thought she was laying on was actually Zach. She flipped onto her side and rested her head on her left hand and looked at him.

He was deep in sleep and looked so beautiful. She wanted nothing more than to wake him up, but she figured he needed the sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him at the condo, so she figured he had been staying here and probably hadn't gotten a lot of sleep over the last few weeks. Lord knows she hadn't been sleeping, more like napping on the couch overnight waiting to see if he would come home.

She flipped onto her back and looked over at the clock – 11:15. She hadn't slept this late in years. Figuring that he needed to sleep more, she slipped out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower.

It wasn't till she got out of the shower that she realized she didn't have anything to put on except the dress she wore last night. She walked back into the bedroom to a snoring Zach. That made her laugh out loud. She quickly covered her mouth to keep from waking him, but her laugh did nothing to break up his sleep. She walked around the bed to the pile of clothes they had discarded last night and grabbed his dress shirt. She figured that would do for the time being.

She snuck out of the bedroom and quietly closed the bedroom door. She prayed that Simone and Ethan ended up staying at the casino like they had planned to and that they still had her bag in their room. She walked over to the desk to retrieve her cell phone to call Simone when she heard a light knock on the suite door.

She peeked through the peep hole to see Bianca standing at the door. 'Thank God' she thought to herself. She threw open the door to see her sister standing there with a room service cart full of food and her overnight bag on her shoulder.

Bianca smirked at her sister. "Need this?"

"Which?"

Bianca looked at the food, the bag, then at her sister. "Both, I'm assuming."

"Yes, get in here."

Bianca pushed the cart through the door, but stopped on the threshold.

"This sends quite a message" she said, pointing at the note on the door, held up by the knife.

Kendall giggled and pulled the note and knife off the door. "I told him it was quite catchy."

Bianca pushed the cart the rest of the way into the room as Kendall shut the door. "I tried to call you, but both your and Zach's phone was off. And, the concierge was no help – I guess Zach scared him right and proper. Kept muttering something about not losing his job because of anyone, not even the boss' sister-in-law. I finally found Edie and she helped me out. Hungry?"

"Starving" Kendall said as she grabbed the bag "but I should really…"

"I don't know, I think the Zach shirt is a good look for you."

"Oh shut up Binks" Kendall said as she slipped into the bedroom to change.

Kendall came back out in jeans and a sweater to her sister setting up the food.

"Damn, Binks, you order enough food?"

"Well, I thought you two might be hungry. I figured you two probably worked up quite an appetite last night" Bianca said, smirking at her sister.

"Pervert" Kendall said, swiping food onto her plate.

Bianca put her hand on her chest and gave Kendall a look of shock. "Why Kendall? Did you and Zach do something that could be considered in the realm of perverted last night?"

Kendall just smiled at her sister. "More like 5 times, but yeah, I guess you could say that we…" Kendall trailed off as she saw the look on Bianca's face.

Bianca, for one, was impressed. She sat down across from her sister. "Holy crap, Kendall… ok, spill. Now!"

Kendall slipped into her seat and smirked. "Gee, I don't know Binks, a lady doesn't kiss and tell."

"Oh, cut the crap. I got rid of mom AND Ryan for you last night. So, spill!"

Kendall looked at her sister, confused. "Erica AND Ryan? What are you…"

"I asked first. You spill then I will."

Kendall sighed. "Fine. OK, so when we got back up here…"

* * *

Zach stretched his hands over his head as he woke up. He reached across the bed for his wife, but found just an empty spot.

He shot up and looked around the room. 'Oh god, not again… there was no way that was a dream… she has to be…'

He shot out of bed and grabbed a pair of track pants out of the drawer and slipped them on. He had to go find her, had to keep her from walking away again, like she had for weeks in his dreams.

'She has to be here, has to still be in the building. I'll call Edie, security…' he thought to himself as he threw open the bedroom doors.

He stopped short and quiet breathing for a moment when he saw her, sitting in the living room. She turned her head when he entered the room and smiled widely at him.

Without regard to anything else, he walked across the room and pulled her out of her chair and assaulted her lips with his own.

Kendall moaned as he grabbed her and pulled her flush to his body. She ran her fingers through his hair and deepened the kiss.

They forgot they weren't alone till Bianca cleared her throat. When that didn't work, she coughed loudly. That's when Kendall finally pulled back.

Zach was panting as she broke the kiss off. That's when he looked over Kendall's shoulder and saw Bianca sitting there, smirking at him. Zach just smiled at her.

Kendall pulled out of his embrace and grabbed his hand. "Bianca brought us food and my clothes."

"Yeah, I figured you all needed the sustenance" she said, smirking again.

Zach groaned as he ran is fingers through his hair. "So, I take it you've been here awhile."

"Yeah, Kendall's been… well, let's just say she's been filling me in and leave it at that."

And for the first time ever, they saw Zach Slater blush. That sent them into giggles as he just stood there.

"Glad I'm entertaining you two."

"Aw, poor baby" Kendall said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, are you alright? You shot out of the bedroom like a bat out of hell."

"Oh, it was… nothing… oh, look, waffles."

"Zach!" He knew that tone of her voice and he knew there was no way he was getting out of this without telling her the truth.

"OK, it's nothing really. I just… ok… I just had been having these dreams… it's just… ok, you were in the dreams and you would be there and then you would be gone and I would wake up and you weren't there and I just thought…"

Bianca sighed as Kendall smiled brightly at him. She looked over at her sister. "You'll have to forgive us for a moment, Bianca."

Bianca just smirked as her sister grabbed Zach and attacked his lips with her own. After a few minutes, she pulled back and whispered in his ear "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Good" he whispered back as he kissed her cheek.

Kendall pulled out of his embrace and Zach headed for the table. "OK, so what have we got…."

"OH NO!" Kendall yelled as she pulled him away from the table. "You need a shower."

"I don't…"

Kendall crossed her arms and glared at him. "I beg to differ. We got very, very, very sweaty last night and you… well, you kind of stink. No food till after you shower."

Bianca was howling at this point and Zach just stared at his wife. He knew there was no use battling her on this, so he turned to head for the shower.

"Fine, but you better save me some waffles."

"Whatever."

"Kendall…"

"Fine, fine, fine. Waffles."

"And some whipped cream."

"We'll see" she said, smirking.

"Fine. You already planned the day out for us."

She just smiled. "Yeah, you owe me a lingerie shopping trip, remember."

And Bianca just howled again as Zach's mouth dropped open. Kendall just smirked at her husband as he groaned and turned toward the bathroom to get ready for the day.

TBC….


	8. Chapter 8

The three of them enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, talking about nothing and laughing like the three of them haven't laughed in a long time. As Bianca left, she swore that she wouldn't tell anyone, save Myrtle, about the two of them until they were ready to tell the town. They knew that Bianca and Myrtle would be on their side, but they were pretty sure that was it.

Kendall shut the door and turned toward her husband… just the thought of calling him that made her stomach do flips. She leaned back against the door and just watched him – watched as he cleaned up the plates and pulled their phones out of the desk. He looked at her as he turned around and smiled in that dangerous way, in that way that made her want to forget the rest of the world and stay locked in this hotel suite forever.

"Are you checking me out, Mrs. Slater?" he said, walking toward her.

She could barely breathe when he looked at her like that. "As a matter of fact, I was. You got a problem with that Mr. Slater?"

"Not at all" he growled as he shoved her against the door and attacked her lips. She was helpless to him, to his ways, so she gave in instantly. She moaned loudly as he sucked on her earlobe and ran his tongue up and down her neck.

"Oh god…. Oh Zach… Zach… wait… Zach… please, wait… Zach!" she said, grabbing his face and pulling him back so she could look at him.

"Zach, we need to…"

He placed a light kiss on her lips and pulled back, giving her some breathing room. "Yeah, I know, but what I can I say – I find you irresistible."

"Yes, yes, yes, I know, but we really do need to get out of this room. It's time to go back to the real world" she said, as she walked into the bedroom to pack her bag.

He leaned against the door jam and sighed. "Must we?"

She turned and smiled. "Yes, I am afraid we must. We are two very important people and it would definitely be noticed with we went missing."

He shrugged and walked over to her. "Well, when you are right, you're right."

"Besides, I was promised shopping."

"Ah, yes, of course. How could I think you would possibly forget about a shopping trip!" he said as he started to pack his things. She smiled at him and finished organizing her bag. He stared at her for a moment and realized that he was looking forward to heading back to Pine Valley, back to the condo, knowing that she would be there with him. For the first time in weeks, the thought of going home didn't make him sick to his stomach.

* * *

"Zach, what are you doing?" she squealed as he pulled her into a dressing room with the stack of lingerie she, ok, really they… had picked up since entering the store.

Zach pulled the door shut and smirked at her. "Well, since it would seem that I am going to have to put a second mortgage on the casinos to buy everything you want…"

"Excuse me, would you like me to show you what I have lovingly dubbed 'The Zach Slater Collection'?"

He just smirked and continued on "… I just think you should try on a few choice pieces for me right now. It's a very long drive back to the condos…"

"Which will never happen if I decide to indulge you."

"Maybe, maybe not. I think we should take our chances," he said, pulling her into him. She sighed as he started placing feather light kisses on her neck. She thought for a second about his idea, but quickly pulled back.

"Zach, no, no way. We can't…"

"What are they going to do, throw us out? We kind of own the place."

"Yes, and we need to set an example."

"Well, then, what good is owning a casino if I can't do as I please with my wife while we are in the casino?"

She just laughed. "Good question. Maybe it's one we can discuss after we pay and are headed back to the condos."

He just groaned as she opened the door and pulled him out of the dressing room.

They both gasped and stopped short as they came face to face with an uncomfortable looking Ethan and a smirking Simone.

Simone looked back and forth between Kendall and Zach several times before laughing out loud.

Ethan looked down at her. "Something funny?"

"Hell, yeah. I mean, come on, how often is it that both Kendall and Zach are left speechless?"

Kendall quickly regained her composure. "Look, Simone…"

That's when Simone gasped loudly and grabbed Kendall's left hand. "What the hell is this?" she asked, staring at the diamond ring.

Kendall looked up at Zach. He just smiled shyly at her and placed a kiss on her temple. Kendall turned back to Simone.

"It's my wedding ring. Zach didn't get the divorce on the island. We're still married and we decided to make a go of this, to see if we can…"

Kendall didn't get to finish the sentence as Simone grabbed her and hugged her for all she was worth.

Kendall pulled back and stared at her friend. "Look, you may not think…"

Simone held up her hand. "Stop. Are you happy?"

"What?"

"Are you happy? Is this what you want? Does this make you happy?"

Kendall glanced back at Zach, her husband, and smiled. "Very, very happy."

"Then that's all I need to know. Congrats!" she said as she pulled Kendall into another hug.

Kendall smiled and returned the hug. "Thank you Simone."

Simone pulled back and looked at Ethan. "Ethan?"

He looked between Kendall and Zach and then at Simone, who was glaring at him.

"As long as you are happy, Kendall" he said as he leaned and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Ethan, I really am."

And then, the unexpected happened. Ethan extended his hand to Zach. "Congratulations, Zach. She's a great woman."

Zach returned the handshake. "Thanks."

Zach cleared his throat as the four of them stood there in an uncomfortable silence.

Zach turned to Kendall. "Look, I'm going to be outside. I need to call Edie and tell her that we are heading out and…"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Just tell the cashier to charge it to my account" he said as he walked out the door.

Kendall turned back to Ethan and Simone. "Look, guys, we aren't really telling anyone yet. Besides you two, only Bianca, Edie, and Myrtle know, so if you could…"

"Your secret is safe with us" Ethan said as Simone nodded.

"Thanks. We'll I better…"

Simone just smiled. "Yeah, have a good day, night, all of it. See you tomorrow."

Kendall just groaned as she headed toward the cashier.

Zach was finishing up his phone call as she exited the store. She could see the concern on his face.

She walked up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "They promised not to tell anyone."

"Are you sure, Kendall? I mean, Ethan could…"

"Zach, he's the one that promised."

Zach let out the breath he had been holding in since leaving the store. "Good."

She smiled and looped her arm through his. "So, can we get out of here?"

"The car is waiting, my dear."

"Good, because the sooner we get back to the condos, to sooner that fashion show of yours can start" she said, smirking.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for" he said, leading her toward the waiting car that would take them back home and back to the life that was waiting for them to live together.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh my… oh… just… oh my… Zach!"

He loved watching her in this moment, as her skin flushed and she closed her eyes and threw her head back. She always had a wisp of a smile on her face in this moment and it was that smile that always sent him over the edge and this time was no different. It had been three weeks since their New Year's Eve reconciliation and he couldn't have been happier than he was in this moment as she stared down at him and ground her hips into him, bringing him to his finish.

She collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily as they both tried to regain their senses. Kendall rolled off of him and lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch her breath. She felt him shift and turn toward her. After a moment, she turned her head and looked at him, smiling at her.

"Ok, let's never go a week without doing that again."

He laughed and threw his arm across her stomach, feeling the slight bulge of the baby boy growing inside of her. He pulled her into him and kissed her on the cheek.

"Deal. Care to join me in the shower?" he said, not really waiting for an answer as he pulled her out of bed and toward the bathroom.

* * *

_A week earlier_

Kendall smiled as she rounded the corner and walked into their shared courtyard. While they still had the separate residences, they had yet to spend a night apart and she more than liked it that way.

She saw that his light was on, and that surprised her. She had planned on beating him home tonight. She looked down at the bag of take out and shrugged – 'guess it won't be much of a surprise' she thought as she opened the door to his condo.

He was in the process of talking on the phone and packing a bag when she walked in.

"No, it's fine. Edie's got the casino's jet waiting on. Yeah… yeah… I realize and believe you me, that imbecile is fired when I get to Vegas tonight. Yeah… ok… make sure you are waiting for me… see you then."

He snapped the phone shut and dropped it into his pocket. He saw her standing in the doorway, looking confused. He walked over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good, you're early tonight. Pack a bag. There's a problem in Vegas and we've got to… well, let's just say that Alan is completely fired when we get there tonight and…"

She put her bags on the counter top and walked over to him. She stilled him by placing her hands on his arms. He sighed and looked at her.

"Yeah, you are going to have to slow down and start over."

"Alan, our former casino manager in Vegas, screwed up not only the tax stuff for the year, but also managed to piss off all the investors in the new facility we want to build in Atlantic City, so we've got to go out there and fix this mess. Run and get packed – the plane's waiting."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Zach, I can't go."

He stopped mid stride and turned back to her. "What?"

"Well, Simone and Babe decided to run with this whole vintage/tribute line. It's actually not a half bad idea, but they are off and running and I need to be around to help and they want to get this done in the next few weeks. Apparently, the stores love the idea and have had people requesting the rest of the line, so we've bumped up production and…"

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You can't go."

She looked up at him with a sad smile. "No, I can't."

He laughed at the look on her face. "Now, what's that look for?"

"Well, it's just… we haven't… how long do you think you will be gone?"

"A few days, week tops."

"A WEEK!" she yelled loudly.

"Well, hopefully just a few days, but probably a week…"

"I don't like that one bit" she said, pouting.

He couldn't help himself when she pouted. That pout just begged to be kissed off her face, so he obliged. He leaned in and gave her a less than chaste kiss.

She pulled back and looked at him. "I think I'm going to miss you a little bit."

"Are you now?"

"Yeah" she said, smiling shyly.

"Well, I'm going to miss you more than just a little bit."

She sighed and pulled him into a hug. "It's just that we haven't spent a night apart since New Year's."

He smiled and kissed her on the temple. "That's true, but I'm not going to the middle of the Congo or anything, just to Vegas, where they have phones and everything."

Kendall giggled.

"Plus, when used correctly, phones can be very naughty things. As can imaginations."

She pulled back and looked at him. "I like how you think, Mr. Slater."

He just smiled as he pulled her into another kiss. Things heated up very quickly and he knew that if he didn't stop now, that plane was going to be waiting for awhile.

She pouted as he pulled out of her embrace, but he did his best to ignore her as he grabbed his bag and coat.

She grabbed her purse and the take out and walked over to her door as he locked his. He walked over to her as she opened her door and turned on the light.

"I'll call you tomorrow. I'm probably going to be busy tonight and…"

"It's alright, Zach. You should have fired Alan a long time ago."

He smiled. "You aren't kidding. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Try to get some sleep. I love you" he said as he leaned in to kiss her again.

"I love you too" she whispered as he pulled back. He took off to the waiting car, looking over his shoulder at her again before rounding the corner.

She waited till he was out of sight before shutting and locking her door. "OK, I can do this" she said to herself as she pulled out some of the food.

* * *

It had been two days since she had had a chance to talk to Zach and it was beginning to drive her - along with Simone, Babe, and Danielle - crazy. He had called as promised the morning after he left, but since then, they had done nothing but play telephone tag. She had received two dozen red roses yesterday afternoon with a note that only said '_Miss you'_. She had not slept well the last two nights and had gone back to sleeping on the couch at night like she had before New Years.

Dani and Simone had run to BJ's to get lunch for the three of them. Babe was… well, all that Kendall cared was that she wasn't in the office. She was reading the latest report from production when the phone rang.

"Fusion, this is Kendall."

"What are you wearing" she heard growled from the other end of the phone.

She smiled at the sound of his voice and leaned back in her chair, kicking up her heels on the desk.

"Would you believe just a negligee and a pair of three inch heels? Simone thought I was crazy coming into the office in just that, but hey, I'm the boss so…"

She laughed as she heard what sounded like the phone clattering on the floor.

"Zach? Zach, you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry, it seemed the phone slipped out of my hand."

"Yeah, right."

"You are an evil, evil woman, Kendall Slater."

"Hey, you asked!"

"Only because I had a very naughty, very hot dream about you last night."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Do tell." She knew he was smirking on the other end of the phone, but she didn't care at this point.

"Well, we were at this great chateau in France. We were standing on the balcony, looking over the mountains when you spied the hot tub out of the corner of your eye. Without a word, you dropped all your clothes and jumped in, dragging me along with you. I jumped in right behind you and you waded across the hot tub to where I was sitting. You planted the hottest kiss on me and then I…"

"LUNCH HAS ARRIVED!" Simone yelled as she and Dani walked back into the office. Kendall swore under her breath as Zach started to laugh.

"So much for that" Kendall said as Simone started to unpack lunch while Dani grabbed the other ringing phone.

"So much for what?" Simone asked.

"I swear to God, if I could still fire you…"

"Calm down Kendall" Zach said from the other end of the line. "I need to get going anyway. I've about got this mess figured out, so hopefully I will be back in the next few days and then I can show you the rest of the dream."

She sighed. "Alright. Call me later?"

"Of course. I love you."

"Love you too" Kendall said as she hung up the phone. She glared at Simone, who had a sheepish look on her face.

"I take it that was Zach."

"Yeah, and I swear, if you got my food wrong, I'm throwing you out a window."

Simone just smiled as she handed Kendall her order. "Calm down girl, he'll be back soon enough."

"So you say" Kendall grumbled as she bit into her sandwich.

* * *

Zach and Kendall spent the next four days trading messages and having short, but very hot and inappropriate phone conversations. He was concerned when she let it slip that she had been sleeping on the couch, but she assured him that it would be better when he got back. She refused to tell him that she had resorted to sleeping in a worn dress shirt she found in her condo.

She had just fallen asleep, in bed for once, when she heard knocking on the front door. She grumbled to herself as she tied her robe around her waist and walked to the front door. She was not at all pleased when she threw open the front door to see him standing there.

She sighed and leaned against the door. "What, Ryan?"

"Were you sleeping?"

"Yeah."

"Oh God, Kendall, I'm sorry. I can come back tomorrow."

"No, forget it, I'm up now. Come in."

He walked in and stood in the middle of her living room, just staring at her.

"What Ryan? I'm kind of tired and…"

"Yeah, sorry about that again, but I've been trying to get in touch with you for the last few weeks. Haven't you gotten my messages?"

She thought back to the deleted messages on her cell phone and the stack of balled up messages slips in her trash can at work. "Um… yeah… it's been busy and I really haven't had a lot of time for much. Did you need something?"

He walked over to her and ran his fingers down her arm. "Let's sit down."

'Funny' she thought to herself. 'A year ago that would have turned me on completely and now… well, now I feel like I need a shower'.

She let him guide her over to the couch and stared at him confusedly as he tucked the cover around her legs.

She watched as he looked her over. "Spit it out Ryan."

"How are you? Everything alright? You been feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is that all?"

"No. Um… well, have you talked to Bianca?"

Kendall just stared at him. "Yeah, you know, a few times, considering she is my sister and all. She left for Paris after New Year's. You need her number or something?"

"No. Well, it's just that… well, I came to the casino on New Year's to see you and…"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Well, I can't imagine you got an invite to the party, so why did you even come to the casino?"

"Well, Erica said that…"

Kendall groaned as she got off the couch. "Figures. Erica pushing her agenda again."

"Erica said that you wanted to see me."

"No, Ryan, Erica wanted me to see you. I didn't ask her to get you out there, nor did I want you there."

"Look, Kendall, I know I haven't been the greatest over the last few weeks, but I've been thinking a lot about you, me, this baby and I thought…"

"Oh no" she said, holding up her hand.

"Look, just one more chance. I know that we can make this work. I think we need to, for the baby's sake. Greenlee's not coming back and this child should have both parents around."

"Ryan, I can't tell you that you can't be involved in this child's life, if I choose to keep him, but are you saying that…"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "A family. I think we should give it a real go."

"Really? Me, you, baby, upstairs while your clingy sister and psycho brother live where, in the basement, out back in the guest house. No thanks."

"Kendall, what are you going to do? You really aren't considering doing this alone, are you?"

"I'M NOT ALONE" she roared before she could stop herself. The forcefulness of her tone made him take a step back and he took a good look at her. That's when he noticed the men's shirt she was sleeping in and the diamond ring on her left hand.

"Oh my god…" he said.

"Ryan, look…"

"Please tell me that you and Slater…"

"You need to stop right now. Fine, Zach didn't get the divorce. We talked New Year's Eve. I love him, Ryan, and he loves me. We decided to stay married and make a real go of this."

Ryan snorted at that idea. "Right. Slater confesses his undying love and you fold right into his arms? Why, because Greenlee and I rejected you out right. God, Kendall, are you really that stupid and naïve!"

She was shaking in anger at this point. She walked over and threw open the front door. "GET. OUT." She said, grabbing the door with all her might.

"With pleasure" he said, storming out the door. "But it's your funeral. Hope you have someone left when he crushes you into the ground."

She slammed the door and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. When counting to 10 several times didn't work, she looked at the clock and quickly figured out what time it was in Paris before picking up the phone and dialing her sister. She needed to talk to someone, because it was just a matter of time before Ryan told Erica about her and Zach.

* * *

The next day was a blur. She managed to dodge Erica's calls and ducked out the back of Fusion as Simone kept Erica distracted in the office.

Her phone rang off the hook at home. After about 45 minutes of the incessant ringing, Kendall pulled all the phone cords out of the wall and closed all the blinds in her windows. She shut her cell phone off and stretched out on the couch, wishing for nothing more than for her husband to be there, protecting her from the rest of the crazy world who thought she had lost her mind.

It was late when she thought she heard a click in the back of her mind. She felt the couch shift slightly and she cracked her eyes open, only to see Zach, sitting on the end of the couch, staring at her.

"Zach?" she asked, groggily.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

Hearing him talk brought her out of her sleep and she launched herself at him, landing in his lap. He laughed as she held onto him with all her might and let the tears fall that she had held in since Ryan left earlier.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, pulling back to look her in the face.

She sighed and smiled at him. "I'm fine. I missed you so much. I thought you weren't flying back till the morning."

"Yeah, what can I say, the thought of sleeping alone for one more night… well, I just couldn't bear it. Everything was finished, so I headed back early. Surprised?"

"More than you know" she said, leaning back into him, placing her head back into the crook of his neck.

"I brought you something" he whispered in her ear.

"Later" she said, planting her lips on his. After a few minutes of kissing, she pulled back just a wisp. "Take me to bed" she whispered. He latched onto her lips again and carried her back to the bedroom.

After a long and passionate bout of sex, she told him about Ryan's visits and about avoiding Erica. He let her yell and scream and promised that she wasn't going to have to deal with any of this alone. She managed to talk him out of going over to the Pine Cone and killing Ryan with his bare hands. As the sun started to rise, they fell asleep, holding onto each other like they were the only concrete thing in the world.

* * *

Zach got out of the shower before Kendall after they managed to make love without falling on the soapy floor. She shut off the shower and threw back the curtain to see her wickedly handsome husband leaning against the door, holding the shirt she had been sleeping in.

"Nice nightshirt. Is it new?"

"Shut up" she said, grabbing it away from him and slipping it on over her head.

The sight of her in his shirt was too much to bear. Before she knew what was happening, he lifted her up onto the sink and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"I think this is the sexiest thing I have ever seen you wear" he growled as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.

She was about to slip the towel off his waist when they heard banging on the door and Erica yelling for Kendall to open the door immediately.

Kendall pulled back and groaned, dropping her head to his shoulder.

He laughed and kissed the top of her head. "You are going to have to deal with her eventually. Go answer the door, while I get dressed."

She sighed as she slid off the counter top and headed toward the front door.

She threw it open to an angry looking Erica and an exasperated Jackson.

"Morning, mother, Jackson. Come on in."

Erica glared at her as she stalked into the condo. Kendall sighed as she closed the door, knowing there as a battle brewing insider Erica Kane.

TBC…


	10. Chapter 10

Kendall watched as her mother did a lap around the living room before slamming her purse down on the counter and staring out the window. She glanced over at Jackson, who had sat down on the couch and leaned his head back with his eyes shut. She could only imagine the wrath Jackson had endured before they left to come here.

Kendall took a couple of steps toward Erica. "Look, mother…"

Erica whipped around and glared at her daughter. "Kendall, I just… I don't understand how you could…"

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" Zach said loudly as he clapped his hands and came around the corner from the bedroom. "Who needs coffee?"

Kendall just smirked at Zach, who looked scrumptious in his jeans and grey sweater, as he traversed around the kitchen, pretending that Erica wasn't there. He hummed as he got the coffee set to brew and smiled at Erica while she glared at him. Erica huffed loudly and stormed across the room and sat on one of the ottomans in front of the fireplace.

Kendall walked over to him. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Making coffee then some omelets. You want one?" he whispered back.

"Zach, in case you failed to notice, we've kind of got visitors."

"Yes, in fact, I did notice the looks of love Erica shot in my direction, but neither one of us have eaten in like 24 hours and you need to keep up your strength, so I'm making omelets. Hell, I'll even be nice…" he whispered before leaning back.

"Jackson, Erica, either one of you care for an omelet?"

Erica glared at him for a moment before turning back to the fireplace. Jackson politely said no and returned back to his original position.

"Well, they just don't know what they are missing. I make fantastic omelets" he said as he cracked an egg into the skillet.

The scene sent Kendall of into a giggle fit. The idea of her husband making breakfast while her mother sat in the living room, wanting nothing more than to kill him with a spatula – well, it was a scene that Kendall had never imagined and that made her laugh even harder.

Zach glanced over at her and smiled. "You alright?"

Kendall quickly regained her composure and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah. I'm going to go get dressed. You going to be alright?"

Zach glanced back over his shoulder to where Erica and Jackson were. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm standing in front of the sharp knives, so unless Erica brought her own, I should be safe till you get back."

Kendall smiled warmly at him and headed back to the bedroom.

Ten minutes later, Kendall returned and smiled at Zach, who was halfway through his omelet. He had set her a place with a large omelet and a glass of orange juice. She sat on the stool across from him and smiled before digging into her omelet. Zach was glad to see her appetite was back.

"Do we have any salsa" she asked after a couple of bites.

"I knew I forgot to set something out" he snapped as he turned on his stool and grabbed the jar of salsa out of the fridge.

"Can I get some coffee?"

"No."

"Zach, c'mon, just a little isn't going to…"

"No."

"You're a hateful man" she said, pouting at him.

"But you love me anyway, right?"

Kendall just smiled and nodded as she took another bite of her omelet. While they had been talking, Erica had watched them and had had enough. She crossed the room and slammed her hands down on the counter.

"What in the world do you two think you are doing?" she screamed at them.

"Having breakfast" Zach said, smiling at her sweetly.

Erica glared at him and turned toward her daughter. "Kendall, I don't know what you think you are doing, but…"

"I know exactly what I'm doing, mother. I'm having breakfast with my husband. What I'm trying to figure out is what you are doing here?"

"Look, Kendall, can we talk?"

"I think we are."

Erica glanced over at Zach. "Alone."

Kendall looked over at Jackson. "You going to kick Jackson out, too, mother?"

"Kendall, Jackson and I came here to talk to you. We spoke to Ryan last night and…"

"If Jackson doesn't have to leave, then neither does Zach. Last time I checked, you lived across town, not here" Kendall spit out as she smiled at Zach and took another bite of her omelet.

Erica turned her attention back to Zach. "You couldn't just do us all a favor and get the divorce, could you? You had to make more of a mess of things by staying married. What could you possibly have been thinking? Why would you want to continue this charade?"

Zach took a deep breathe and got up from his seat. He walked around the counter and dropped a kiss on the top of Kendall's head before going toe to toe with Erica Kane.

"Look, Erica, in case you missed it, Kendall and I are both adults. We don't need your permission or your blessing to live our lives. Kendall and I were in the middle of something when your precious Lavery interrupted us on the island. I didn't feel right about getting a divorce without knowing what Kendall wanted to say to me. We talked New Year's Eve and we both, together, decided that we didn't want to get divorced."

"Wait" Erica said, whipping around to look at her daughter. "You were with him on New Year's Eve?"

Kendall, who had been cleaning up the plates, turned and leaned against the countertop, crossing her arms across her chest. "Yes, mother, why? Why could you possibly be surprised that I was with Zach on New Year's Eve? Is it because you thought I was going to be with someone else?"

"Well, yes, actually. I told Ryan to come to the casino so he could get you out of there and…"

"Oh god, Erica" Jackson groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Zach said. "You invited Lavery to my casino?" he said, glaring at Erica.

"I told Ryan that he needed to come get Kendall so they could talk and start the New Year out right, but…"

Zach turned back to Kendall. "Did you… did he… where…"

Kendall could see he was flustered. She loved it when he got flustered. "No, Zach, I didn't see him. Apparently Bianca cut him off and… well, it's a really funny story I'll tell you some other time."

"Your sister, always sticking her nose in" Erica grumbled to herself, or so she thought.

"Yeah, I guess that apple didn't fall very far from the Kane tree, did it Erica?" Zach shot back at her.

"Don't you talk about my family, Slater. What could you possibly know about family?" Erica shot back at him.

"THAT'S IT!" Kendall screamed. "He's my family, mother. He's family, whether you like it or not. I love him, I love him so much and he loves me."

"Oh really, Kendall. How long did it take him to convince you of that?"

"Erica, he didn't have to convince me of anything. I know it from the depths of my soul – he loves me. I can see it when I look into his eyes. I can feel it when he kisses me. There was no convincing because it was already there."

"But Kendall, this baby needs to have its family around him."

"And he will, mother, he will. It's me and Zach and this baby – that's the family."

"What" she heard Zach gasp out from behind her.

She turned and looked at him and smiled at his wide eyes and dropped jaw. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I want a family, I want to us to be a family – me, you and this baby" she said, pulling his hand to her stomach and covering his hand with hers. "I mean, if you want…"

"I want. I want very much" he said, smiling down at her.

"So, you're going to let a Cambias be a father to your child?" Erica roared from behind Kendall.

Kendall whipped around and walked over to her mother. "Zach may have Cambias blood in him, but he's not a Cambias. He's 100 times the man his father and brother could have ever hoped to be. Zach is going to be a great father to this baby. It's what I want and if you can't deal with that, well, then… I guess it will be a shame that this baby will never real know his grandmother, but he won't be lost. He will be more loved than you could ever imagine."

Kendall couldn't even believe the words were coming out of her mouth and she did her best to hold her tears at bay. The shock of Kendall's words hit Erica hard and she just stared at her daughter for a moment before grabbing her purse and coat and walking out the door. Kendall just watched her mother walk away. The tears started to come as she felt Zach put his hands on her shoulders.

Jackson had watched all this develop in front of his eyes, knowing that he couldn't stop it. He had begged Erica not to go to Kendall's angry and to try to respect what she wanted, but all his words had fallen on deaf ears and now Kendall was threatening to cut Erica out of this baby's life.

Jackson walked over and stood in front of Kendall.

"Kendall…"

"Jack, please, I don't think I can…"

"Just hear me out. I know… I was so awful to you on Thanksgiving, but Greenlee was hurt… Anyway, that's beside the point. Let me talk to her, let me try to get through to her before you decide to completely cut her off from the baby. Just let me try, alright."

Kendall just nodded. Jackson gave her a slight smile and took off after his wife. As the door closed, the tears that Kendall had been holding back started to fall. Zach turned her around and closed his arms around her, promising her that everything would be fine and it would all work out, but unsure of how he was going to make that happen.

TBC….


	11. Chapter 11

It had been 6 weeks – 6 weeks since Erica has stormed out of the condo after Kendall told her that she wouldn't be a part of this baby's life if she couldn't accept him as a part of the baby's life as well.

As the bulge on Kendall started to grow, so did Zach's love for this child that technically wasn't his. He was doing everything in his power to give Kendall and the baby all the love that they needed and deserved. He would catch her, though, staring off and he knew that, as much as Bianca could help from Paris, she wanted her mother periodically. Even Babe, whose relationship with Kendall was strained at best, tried to help and advise as best she could and as much as Kendall would let her. Opal and Myrtle did the best they could – they helped Kendall and talked and talked and talked to Erica, but to no avail. Even Zach had gone so far as to meet with Jackson to see if any progress had been made. But, they both knew that Erica was a proud woman and would not cave easily. It had taken Erica so long to warm up to the idea of Miranda, who belonged to the apple of Erica's eye. They just hoped that Erica would thaw sooner rather than later.

Zach had surprised Kendall with a late afternoon picnic and refused to allow her to return to work till the next morning. They had an early dinner on an unusually warm day in an empty plot of land that Kendall had never seen before and did some shopping before returning home.

Zach had taken to talking to the baby at night while Kendall lay there. Sometimes he would do it while she slept, sometimes he would do it while she stared at him like he had lost his mind, but he did it every night.

"Why" she had finally asked him one night.

"So he's not surprised at the sound of my voice" he said, very matter of factly before returning reading the sports page to the baby.

Tonight, he was telling the baby all about his cousin Miranda when Kendall popped up on her elbows and looked at him.

"William Alexander."

He turned his head and looked at her. "What?"

"Well, it just occurred to me that he's going to be here in about 5 months and that he should probably have a name by the time he does. What about William Alexander – we could call him Will."

He smiled at her and was touched. "William is a good name, but don't feel like you have to use Alexander. Use whatever you want."

She returned his smile and sat all the way up. He sat up with her and she placed her hand on his cheek. "It's who you are. Zach, Alexander Jr – it's still you, regardless of the name. It's still your heart, your brain, your smile, your devilishly good looks – it's you. So choose, Alexander or Zachary, because it's going to be one of the two."

She still managed to do this, even after all this time, she could still wow him and make his heart beat just a little bit faster. Sometimes all she had to do was walk in a certain way, or purr his name when she wanted him or something she spied in a window. Most of the time, it was her words. He doubted that she even realized how her words really affected him.

"Alexander. William Alexander… what, Hart, Lavery?"

The name was out of his mouth before he realized it. Just mentioning Lavery made her sit up straight. Ryan had made no contact since the night he found out about Kendall and Zach. Zach knew that Erica and Ryan had been meeting regularly – Jackson had filled him in on that.

"Kendall, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

She smiled at him. "It's fine. Slater, by the way. I don't know why you would think it would be anything but Slater."

Zach smiled at his wife. "William Alexander Slater."

"Will Slater" she whispered back to him.

"A good strong name, Will Slater" he whispered back, crawling up the bed toward her.

She cocked an eyebrow at him and scooted back till she was against the headboard. He quickly caught up and stole her breath with a soul searing kiss. He pulled back when the need for oxygen became too great and sat next to her. She rolled onto her side and cuddled up next to him.

He sighed and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Well, I've been thinking about something too."

She turned her head up to look at him. "What's that?"

"We need to move." They spent most of their time in Kendall's condo, but Zach still had the place across the courtyard. Kendall joked that it was going to be his place to escape to when she became 'pregnant crazy' and that he had probably gotten the locks changed so that he could hide from her in there. Zach swore he only kept the place because he had nowhere else to put all the furniture.

"I know. I want a house with a yard."

Zach just smiled and scooted out of her embrace.

She sat up, confused. "Where are you going?"

"Be right back" he yelled over his shoulder. He was back a minute later with his briefcase. "I have a secret" he said as he pulled some papers out of his briefcase.

"What?"

He held out a stack of papers in her direction. "Well, our picnic today on that piece of land you thought was so pretty. Yeah, we own that."

She sat up on her knees and scooted toward him. "Since when?"

He smiled and sat down on the bed. "Since last week. I've just been waiting for a nice day to take you out there."

She looked down at the deed to the land she was holding in her hand.

"I've got another secret."

Kendall just stared at him, wide eyed.

"Look at the next page."

She flipped the page to see a copy of blue prints. As she perused them, she gasped. "This… this would seem to be blueprints of my dream house."

"It is. They break ground tomorrow."

She launched herself at him. He just chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her. "Surprised?"

"Pleasantly. Zach, this is… this is perfect, but won't it take awhile to get a house built."

Zach smirked at her. "Not when you tell them that money is no option and the house has to be ready in 5 months for a new baby."

She was shocked. "It's going to be done before the baby is born."

"Yeah, but probably only by an hour or so."

She sighed and looked up at this wonderful man. Why anyone would want them apart was beyond her. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Kendall."

She latched on to his lips and pulled him back onto the bed. He rolled them over so she was on top of him.

"Make love to me" she whispered into his ear.

"Anytime, my love" he whispered back.

* * *

They quickly fell into the family routine – he took her to doctor's appointments. He made sure that Simone took her shopping for new clothes when she needed them. He took her out to the house a few weeks after construction had started and she instantly fell in love.

"With what? The studs? All the wood and mud?"

She turned around and glared at him. "Men! Can't you see it – it's a home." She turned back and sighed, looking at the house. "I love it."

He stood next to her and glanced at her then at the house then back at her. "I don't see it" he said, scratching his forehead.

Kendall glared up at her husband. "Men. C'mon, let's get out of here."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Zach was out on the floor, watching a few of the dealers and helping the pit bosses for the shift change when he heard his name yelled from across the casino floor.

"ZACH!"

He turned and saw Babe running full steam ahead toward him. She stopped when she got to him and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to regain her composure.

"Sorry" she said, taking large gulps of air "I kind of sprinted in here from the valet."

He just stared at her. "Okay…"

"Look, something… I'm not sure what's up, but…"

He started to get worried. "Babe, what is it?"

"Well, we were just sitting there, reading the projections from production and Kendall was reviewing the quarterly profit report and explaining it to me and Simone when she just…"

His heart started beating quicker than he thought was healthy. "What?"

"I don't know… she just… she just stopped what she was doing and just started staring off into space. Then she looked at me and Simone dropped the report on her desk and said she needed to go. She was out the door before we could stop her and now she's not answering her phone. We've been to your condos, to Dr. Madden's, BJ's – hell, we even drove through the lot at the Pine Cone and called Josh to see if she stopped by the studios, but… no one's seen her."

Zach bolted off the casino floor and out toward the valet. He yanked his phone out of his pocket and demanded that the valet have his car waiting out front in 30 seconds or they were all fired.

Babe was hot on his heels as he flew through the lobby and out the door. He ran around to the driver side and started to get in.

"Where are you going?" Babe yelled to him.

"To look for Kendall" he yelled back.

"But where? Where could she…"

"She's at the house" Simone yelled as she flew out of the passenger side of Ethan's car. "Danni just called – the manager at your house just called her at the office, saying that Kendall was sitting up in on the second floor in one of the room just humming to herself."

Zach threw a thanks over his shoulder before he climbed into the driver's seat and careened out of the parking lot.

* * *

He managed to make it to the house in record time from the casino – how Ethan and Babe had managed to keep up with him, he would never know. He flew out of his car and up the steps and into the shell of the house.

The workers had gotten all the exterior walls, the roof, and the second floor done in record time, just like they had promised Zach they would when he offered to pay them double if they could have the house done before the baby was born.

He stepped into the large room on the first floor and saw three of the worker just standing there.

"Where is she?" he growled at them.

"She's upstairs. We've tried to talk to her, but she's just sitting there…"

He didn't even stay to hear the guy finish his sentence – he just shot up the stairs. He looked in a couple of rooms on one end of the floor before heading to the other. When he looked in the first room, his breath caught in his throat.

There she was, sitting in a folding chair with her eyes closed, humming and rubbing her stomach.

"Kendall…" he said softly.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Zach."

He took a couple of steps toward her. "Kendall, what are you…"

She waved him over. "Come here, quick."

He crossed the room to her and she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach and covered his hand with hers.

He looked at her for a moment. "Kendall, what are we doing?"

She smiled up at him. "Just wait a minute."

He just stood there. After a few seconds, he started feeling foolish and was about to speak again when he felt a thud against his hand.

He just stared down at their hands. "What the hell was that?"

She laughed. "He's kicking."

Zach stared at her like she was speaking a foreign language. "Kicking? Wait, will he…"

And just like that, the baby kicked against his hand again. Zach laughed and crouched down, staring at his wife's belly.

"Oh my god" he whispered.

"I know" she said as he looked up at her. "I was just standing there talking to Simone and Babe. I just happened to place my hand on my stomach and just… kicked. I froze for a moment, not really sure if it was real or if I was hallucinating, but then it happened again and I just… I just…" And then it hit here – what she had done when she left the office and that Zach was sitting in front of her in the middle of the afternoon.

She shot out of the chair. "Oh holy god. I probably scared the living hell out of them and they went to get you…" She threw her arms around Zach. "I'm sorry" she whispered in his ear.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled into her hair. "It's alright, but next time, how about you just share the good news instead of scaring the hell out of everyone."

She pulled back and smiled up at him. "OK. You mad?"

"Just worried" he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

Kendall apologized to the work men as they left the house and to Babe, Simone, and Ethan for scaring them. They all were just happy she was alright and each got to feel the baby kick.

Zach handed Simone the keys to Kendall's car and asked her to follow them back to the condo. Kendall had insisted that she was fine and wanted to go back to work, but Zach said no way.

"It's been an exciting day and I think we deserve to call it a day early" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She couldn't help herself when he gave her that look. She would agree to just about anything when he did that, and this time was no different. Ethan and Simone followed Zach and Kendall back to the condo while Babe headed back to Fusion to shut down for the day and let everyone else know that Kendall was fine.

Zach locked the door to the condo and sat down next to his wife, who just stared down at her growing stomach.

"What are you thinking" he asked as he played with a stray strand of her hair.

She looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "He's real. This… it's all really happening. For the first time, when he kicked that first time, it was like that maternal bond kicked in. We're going to really be a family with a son and… it's just all real."

"You bet it is" he said as he leaned over her and placed a kiss on her stomach. He sat back up and pulled her into his side. She sighed and molded to him and there they sat, relishing in the idea of this family and the reality that it would soon be.

TBC…. (I'm figuring probably three more chapters, so enjoy!)


	12. Chapter 12

Simone held the door to BJ's open and waited for Kendall to catch up. She smiled as Kendall waddled up to the door. The baby was due in two weeks and this poor child could not get here soon enough.

Kendall sighed and glared at her friend. "I'm too big. You are going to have to open both doors."

"Oh, for the love of God Kendall. You've gained, like, what 30 pounds?"

"35" Kendall grumbled.

"Just shut up and get in there. Do you know how many women would kill to only gain 35 pounds while they are pregnant?" Simone retorted as she gently shoved her friend into BJ's.

"I'm mean, look at me Simone" Kendall exclaimed as she stretched her arms out. "I'm as big as a house."

Simone couldn't help herself – she laughed out loud. Usually she was able to ignore Kendall's rants and raves, which seemed to be coming more and more the closer it got to the due date, but it was almost too much this time. She doubled over with laughter while Kendall just glared at her.

"Glad you are finding this so funny."

"Oh please, Kendall" Simone said, regaining her composure. "You are not as big as a house."

Kendall was about to respond when they heard "Kendall, Simone" come from behind them. They turned around to see Tad heading toward them. He gave Simone a kiss on the cheek before turning his attention to her.

"Kendall, you look fantastic. When's the baby due?"

"Two weeks."

Tad looked her up and down. "Two weeks? Really? You barely look like…"

"I TOLD YOU SO" Simone yelled, pointing at Tad but staring at Kendall.

"I hate you both" Kendall growled. She glared at both of them and crossed the room to sit down at a vacant table.

"Hormones?" Tad asked.

"You have no idea" Simone chuckled back.

"Well, good luck with that" Tad said as he smiled and walked out the door.

"I'm starving" Kendall said as Simone sat down. 'Always' Simone thought to herself, but thought better about verbalizing. She merely smiled at her partner and waved for the server to come over and take their order.

* * *

Simone and Kendall were halfway through with lunch, talking about what else Kendall needed to get for the baby and the house when Anita noticed them across the restaurant. She walked over to the table.

"Afternoon Simone, Kendall."

Kendall, not being a huge fan of the Santos clan grumbled a hello and returned to her baked potato. Simone glared at her for a moment before turning back to Anita.

"Hey Anita. How's it going?"

"Not too bad. You about you two?"

"It's good. Just taking a long lunch before heading back to the office. You working today?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way to the hospital, but I needed to grab something to eat first. I've got to work a double and…"

"Ohhhhhh" Kendall moaned. Anita and Simone both looked at her and noticed the grimace on her face.

"Kendall, you alright" Anita asked.

"Fine. I think it's just some indigestion. This baby also kicks like a champ so… ohhhhhhhhh" Kendall moaned again.

"Kendall?" Simone shot out of her seat and came around the table.

"I'm fine. I told you it's just…"

"Simone, help me out here" Anita said as she motioned for Simone to help her pull Kendall's chair away from the table. They got the chair turned away from the table and Anita crouched down to check Kendall out. It only took about a second to figure out what was going on. She looked up at Kendall.

"Yeah, Kendall, it's not so much as indigestion as it is labor. Your water broke."

"WHAT?" Kendall and Simone screamed at the same time.

Anita smiled at the two women. "Yeah, it would seem that baby Slater is on his way this afternoon."

"WHAT" they screamed again, staring at Anita like she had just sprouted another head.

Anita giggled at their reaction. "So, I take it this is the first time either of you have been around a woman in labor?" Judging by their blank stares and lack of response, Anita decided that that was a yes. She grabbed one of the servers as he walked past the table. "I need you to call 911 and tell them to get down here – there's a woman in labor."

"Labor?" Simone breathed out looking at her friend. She immediately noticed the terrified look on Kendall's face. "Oh god… Kendall, it's going to be fine. Women do this everyday. Will's on his way – it's exciting."

"Exciting!" she screamed. "This isn't… I'm not… I'm supposed to have two more weeks! You hear that Will" she yelled at her stomach. "You aren't supposed to be here for another two weeks!" Kendall glared up at Anita. "Crack pipe doctors – what the hell!"

Anita looked down at Kendall and smiled. "Yeah, well, most of the time due dates are an estimated guesses."

"I'm not ready" Kendall whispered to her.

"You'll be fine" Anita whispered back. All three women looked toward the door as they heard the ambulance pull up and two paramedics flew through the doors. "Back here guys" Anita yelled to the two men. Anita and Simone both stepped back as the men assessed Kendall and helped her onto the stretcher. Anita grabbed her take out from one of the servers and looked over at Simone. "You alright?"

"I'm not sure… I mean… should I be doing something?"

Anita just smiled at her. "C'mon. Grab her stuff and we can ride with her. Oh, and you might want to call Zach when we get to the hospital."

"OH MY GOD, ZACH! I completely forgot about him."

Anita just laughed. "It happens. Let's go."

Simone grabbed Kendall's purse off the table and headed out the door, on the heels of Anita Santos.

* * *

Zach had just entered minute 55 of a very irritating conference call and he was starting lose his patience when Edie popped her head into his office. He covered the receiver with his hand and started banging it against his forehead. "What?" he barked at Edie.

"I've got a call for you on line…"

"NO! No more calls. I'm about to finish this one up and then I'm going to throw the damn thing out the window."

"But, sir, line three is…"

"Take a message. I'm not taking anymore calls for awhile. I haven't eaten lunch yet and…" He noticed that Edie sighed and leaned up against the door jam. "What?"

"Fine, but I need to know what time you would like me to tell Simone you will be getting to the hospital." Zach just stared at her as she continued on. "It would seem that your wife, you know, the lovely Kendall Slater, went into labor at lunch and just arrived at the hospital. Simone was calling to let you know and…"

"Gentlemen, I've got to go" Zach said into the phone. He dropped it into the cradle, all while staring at his assistant. "Kendall went… she…LABOR?"

"So it would seem" Edie said, smirking at her boss. Immediately, he shot out of his chair and grabbed his suit jacket.

"Well, why the hell didn't you say so!" he screamed at her as he ran through the outer office toward the elevators.

Edie just turned and watched him run. "Well, I was trying to… so you want me to let her know that…"

"I'M ON MY WAY" he yelled as the elevator doors shut. Edie just smirked and walked to her desk, picking up line 3. "Simone, let Kendall know that Zach is on his way. I'd imagine he'll be there in record time. Good luck." Edie smiled as she hung up the phone, knowing that this was going to change everything.

* * *

Zach flew through the hospital doors and looked around for someone, anyone that could help him find his wife, but there seemed to be no one around. He was about to grab the next orderly he saw and demand information when Anita Santos came around the corner.

She looked up and saw him looking lost. "Umm... Zach?" she said, snapping at him. "She's this way." Zach just stared at her as she turned and walked back the way she came. He was quick to follow.

Anita managed to get him out of his suit jacket and tie before he entered the delivery room. She just giggled as they walked into the delivery room. Zach was staring at his screaming wife, being completely unsure as to what to do.

"SON OF A BITCH" Kendall screamed at the top of her lungs. Glancing over, she noticed Zach staring at her. "Jackass!" she spit out at him. That seemed to break him out of his reverie. He walked over to her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Don't kiss me. You did this to me. Jackass!"

Zach laughed out loud. "Actually, my love, I had absolutely nothing to do with this and…"

"Yeah, well, you're my husband and I'm going to blame you, so deal with it."

He just smirked at her. "Yes dear."

Dr. Madden came in to check on Kendall's progress. "Well, it would seem that this baby is going to be here sooner rather than later. You are fully dilated, so it's time."

"Time?" Kendall whispered. Zach looked down at her and saw the tears in her eyes. "What is it?"

She looked up at Zach, her wonderful husband who had had her back this entire time. "I'm not ready."

Zach bent down and looked her in the eye. "You're ready. We're both ready. Are we going to learn as we go? Absolutely. This is the first time we've done this, so we've got some stuff to learn, but we'll learn it. Do you believe me that we are going to do this together?"

Kendall just nodded at him, tears streaming down her face. "I'm scared."

Zach smiled sweetly at her and leaned in for a quick kiss. "Me too, but we'll be fine."

"Zach, I'm sorry that I was mean when you first came in and….. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Zach stood straight up and looked at Dr. Madden.

"Zach, help me get her into position."

Zach and Dr. Madden helped Kendall sit up and get as comfortable as she could as the nurses finished preparing the room. Zach stood next to Kendall, one arm around her back, as she gripped onto his other hand for dear life. Dr. Madden moved to sit in front of Kendall.

"You ready?" he asked. Kendall looked up at Zach and then back at him and nodded.

"Good, alright, here's what I need you to do."

45 minutes later, William Alexander Slater let out his first cry and was welcomed to the world by two sobbing and ecstatic parents.

TBC….


	13. Chapter 13

It had been an hour and a half – an hour and a half since he became a dad. _'Dad'_ he thought to himself. He never ever imagined that he would ever be someone that would be called _'Dad'_, especially not after the childhood that he had had. But then, Kendall and Will came along and that all changed. Will may not be his in the biological sense, but he swore to himself that he was going to be a Dad to the child the instant he saw Kendall take him in her arms.

Anita had split her take out with him about 45 minutes ago and since then he had just sat in the chair, watching his wife sleep. 'She is so beautiful' he thought to himself. 'And brave and so giving'. He had been in awe of her the whole time she had been in labor. The normal Kendall who hated more than anything being told what to do had listen to Dr. Madden's words about what she needed to do. When Will started to cry, so did she. Seeing her cry sent tears down Zach's face and by the time Will had finished his initial cry, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Zach heard a soft knock on the door and turned to see Anita pop her head in. "How is she" he whispered, nodding toward Kendall.

"Out like a light. Has been for about a half hour or so" he whispered back.

Anita looked over her shoulder then back in the room. "Well, I've got someone here who wants to see you."

Zach looked confused until she rolled Will into the room. Zach got out of his chair and stood over his son, just staring at him.

"You want to hold him?" Anita asked.

Zach kept staring at this child. Normally, holding a child was something he would have shied away from, making excuses about expensive suits and needing to be somewhere else, but that was before Miranda and way before Will.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"What?"

Zach looked back at Kendall and then at Anita. "Can we go for a walk? Kendall's exhausted and I don't want to wake her up."

She just smiled. "Yeah, it's fine, but don't be gone too long. Kendall really needs to try to feed him when she wakes up."

Zach nodded and reached out to Will. He picked him up with a skill he didn't know he had inside of him and quickly found himself holding the baby comfortably. Anita just smiled and held the door open for the two of them.

Zach looked around before smiling at Anita and heading down the hallway. The hospital had slowed to a dull hum and Zach didn't see a lot of people around. He suddenly found himself in the empty sun room and sat down on the one of the couches. He looked down at Will, who was cooing and wiggling around in his arms. Zach sat still for a moment and let Will get comfortable.

"Well, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm your dad. I'm the voice you've been hearing for the last 6 months or so. The higher voice, the one that was screaming this afternoon – well, that was your mom and you'll get used to the screaming." Zach could have sworn that the baby chuckled and smiled at his joke.

Zach felt the tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at this child. "You will never know what a gift you are. You were supposed to be a gift to someone else. Your mother is the most unselfish, most giving person in the world – so giving that you were originally her gift to someone else, but now… well, you are her gift to me. I am making you a promise right now little one – I'm going to be a great dad and give you and your mom all that you deserve. You may not like all my decisions, especially in about 15 years or so, but always know that I love you and have only your best interest and well being in mind. Your dad didn't have the greatest childhood or the greatest role model for a father. My dad and brother – your grandfather and uncle, well, they aren't around anymore – weren't the greatest example of a family, but I'm making a fresh start, here and now. I know I've got it in me and you coming into my life – well, you just brought it out of me. We'll do all these great father and son things. I'm going to teach you to play ball and poker – but, let's keep that one a secret from your mom for awhile. And most of all, I promise to be around when you need me. No more absentee dads, not anymore. People may try to tell you bad things about me and my dad and brother, but don't listen to them when they try to tell you that you are going to wind up like them. You have your mother in you and I'm here now." Zach could barely keep the tears at bay and he leaned down and placed the lightest kiss on Will's forehead.

"Zach?"

Zach looked over his shoulder to see Lily standing in the doorway. "Hey Lily" he said.

"Am I bothering you?"

"Not at all. You can come over here."

Lily walked over and sat across from Zach. "Is that Will?"

"Yes it is."

"He's very cute. I thought it was Will because you are holding him. Simone called Danielle and Danielle called me and Reggie and said that Kendall had gone into labor at lunch. Reggie had to explain exactly what labor was to me, but once I understood, I was excited."

Zach just smiled at her as she stared at the baby. "Have you ever seen a baby before?"

"Only in books in my life skills class."

"Well, you can come sit next to me if you want so you can get a closer look?"

"Will I bother him?"

"Not at all."

Lily moved to sit next to Zach and just stared down at the baby and he cooed.

"What was that?"

"I think he was trying to say hello."

"Oh." Lily looked up at him. "You are going to make a really good dad, Zach."

"Thanks Lily. I think you might just be right."

Lily shot up out of her seat. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I volunteered to come find you when Anita said you had taken the baby for a walk. You and Kendall and Will have visitors. There's me, Reggie, Dad, Danielle, Simone, Ethan, Babe, JR, Opal, Myrtle. Oh, and Dad said that he called Bianca and she said that her and Maggie and Miranda were going to try to get out here in a few weeks to see you and Kendall and the baby."

Zach smiled at her and sadly noted that Erica had been left off of Lily's list of visitors, but hopefully once Jackson reported back to her, Erica would quickly change her mind. "Well, Lily, I guess we should head back to the room."

Lily opened the door for Zach and, the room that had been dark and empty when he and Will left was now filled with flowers, balloons, and people that cared about this new family.

Zach sat down next to Kendall on the bed and handed Will to her.

"Where have you two been?"

"Having some father/son time – get used to it" he said as he placed a light kiss on the top of her head. Kendall smiled brightly at him before turning her attention back to their visitors.

* * *

It had been about a month since Will had been born. Kendall and Zach were sitting in their home office, reading over the latest reports from the casino when a loud wail came over the baby monitor. They both sighed and looked at each other.

"Paper, Rock, Scissors" Kendall said, smiling at her husband. He nodded. "On three. One… two… three…" Kendall stuck out a rock while Zach came up with paper.

"Sucker" he said, kicking back in his chair and returning to his report. Kendall groaned and got out of her chair and headed up the stairs to the nursery. Zach was really only half reading the report – he was keeping one ear on the noises outside the house. Bianca had sworn to him last night that her and Jackson and Opal would get Erica out to the house to see the baby today and that he and Kendall needed to stay put. That was easier than he thought it was going to be since Will had kept them up half the night and neither one of them had any desire to leave the house.

He heard some cars pull into the driveway and he shot out of his chair. He got to the front door as Bianca and Erica were coming up the walk. He opened the door for the two women. He leaned down to give Bianca a kiss as Erica took in her surroundings.

"Erica, it's good to see you." She just huffed and walked into the house. Zach stood behind the two women as they looked around the house.

"Oh, Zach, it looks even better than in the pictures that Kendall emailed" Bianca squealed. "Mother, isn't it nice?" Erica just sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey Zach, I think our whole not leaving this house today plan just got shot to hell cause we need more…" Kendall stopped halfway down the steps when she noticed her mother standing with Zach and Bianca. Kendall smiled at her sister, glared at her mother and strode into the living room. Erica just stared at where Kendall had been.

Bianca turned back to Zach, who just shrugged. "Zach, will you go help Jack and Reggie with the stuff from the car while I…"

"Yeah, no problem" he said as he turned toward the door. 'Good luck' he mouthed to her before he headed down the steps.

"Mother – GO!" Bianca demanded as she pointed her mother in the direction of the living room. When Erica didn't move, Bianca turned on her heel and headed toward her sister while Erica reluctantly followed.

Kendall was sitting on the couch staring that large group unpacking bag after back from the two cars as Bianca sat down next to her. Kendall looked over and smiled at her sister.

"We weren't really expecting visitors."

"Well, maybe you weren't but Zach…"

"Figures" Kendall mumbled to herself as she shifted Will in her arms. Bianca leaned over her sister's shoulder. "He looks amazing" she said. Kendall was about to respond when they both her Erica sigh loudly.

Kendall took a deep breath and looked at Bianca again. "Do you mind Binks" she said, holding Will out for her sister to take. Bianca immediately did so and tried to get as far out of the way as she could by moving to the chair across the room. Kendall slowly got off the couch and took a deep breath before squaring her shoulders and facing her mother.

"What?" Kendall spit out, glaring at her mother.

Erica took a couple of steps toward Kendall. "OK, look, I talked to Ryan this morning and…"

Kendall closed her eyes and let out a loud scream. "DAMMIT MOTHER, KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF!" she roared as she opened her eyes to look at her mother and the new group that had assembled behind Erica. Carrying a ton of bags, Zach was currently leading Jackson, Reggie, Lily, Myrtle, Maggie and Miranda into the house when they all stopped as Kendall roared at her mother. They all stared at Kendall before Zach cleared his throat. "So, the kitchen is through here…" he said, walking toward the back of the house, quickly followed by the rest of the group.

Bianca also decided that she and Will should also be out of the line of fire. "Good luck" she whispered into her sister's ear as she walked out of the room.

After the room had cleared out, Erica took a few more steps toward Kendall. "Goodness, Kendall. There's no need to scream like that."

"Well then, quit pissing me off, Mother." Kendall was tired and could bring the bitch just as well as Erica could, if not better after having been up all night with Will.

"Kendall, look. I've talked to Ryan a lot of the last few months…"

"Well, good for you. Next time you talk to him, tell him I say hello."

"Kendall, he said that he feels really bad about that night in your condo and he's willing to forgive you and…"

"FORGIVE ME? And what exactly do I need to be forgiven for, Mother?"

"He wants his family and he's got a right to want that. He is willing to do whatever…"

Kendall groaned and threw her hands over her face. Erica quickly crossed the room and pulled her hands off her face. Erica held onto her hands with all her might. "Kendall, do you not see that I want what's best for you! I love you so much and I think you deserve…"

"What? That I deserve to be happy! That I deserve all the best things out of life! That I deserve unconditional love and affection from a great man!"

"All of those things" Erica said, smiling at her daughter.

"Then would you open your eyes and look around, I mean really look!" Kendall pulled back and threw her arms out in front of her. "Look at this. Zach did all of this for me and our son – he did this out of the goodness of his heart, not because he had something to gain. He built this house for us. He spent hours putting together the nursery – yeah, he paid people to do the rest of the house, but he was adamant about doing the nursery himself. He painted the walls and put together all of the furniture himself because he loves us. The first night we were home, I woke up and found him just standing over the crib. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he just wanted to look at the little guy. Mother, why can't you see that this is everything I deserve and so much more!"

"But Kendall…"

"Mother, please, I am begging you." Kendall grabbed her mother's hands and brought them up between the two of them. "I love him, Erica, I love him so much and he loves me more than I could ever deserve. He's not who you think he is. He's so not a Cambias. He's not even the same Zach Slater he was when he originally came to town or when we entered into that original sham of a marriage. I'm not the same person I was, either. I believe now – I believe in me, in him, in us, in love and hope and a happy future with our son. He made that happen for me. Not Ryan Lavery, but Zach Slater. It's him, Mother, the man of my dreams, the father of my children. It's Zach."

Kendall could see that her mother was starting to thaw. "Mother, I'm not asking you to become his best friend. You don't have to love him or even like him, but I'm asking you as your daughter to please, please, please be civil to him and open your mind a little bit. You might just see what Bianca and I have seen all along."

"What about Ryan?"

"Mother, I told Ryan months ago that he could choose how involved he wanted to be with Will. I put the ball in his court and I haven't heard anything from him. It's his play, not mine. I've got so much more to worry about than what Ryan Lavery is thinking."

"Kendall, I can't promise anything, but I will try."

Kendall pulled her mother into a hug. "That's all I want, Mother, that's all I want."

* * *

Zach and Bianca had been listening to Kendall and Erica from the hallway and Bianca could see how much Kendall's words affected Zach.

"She's a good woman, isn't she?"

"She's a great woman. Much better than I ever deserve."

Bianca was about to respond when they heard Erica ask Kendall "Can I… do you mind if I… where's my grandson?"

"He's right here Mom" Bianca said as she rounded the corner with Zach following her. Erica sat down on the couch and smiled widely as Bianca handed Will to her. Zach stood next to Kendall and threw an arm over her shoulder. Once Bianca made sure that Erica and Will were settled, she turned to Zach and Kendall.

"OK, you two, get out of here. We don't want to see you till dinner."

"Dinner?" Kendall asked, looking up at Zach.

He smiled down at her. "Yes, apparently your entire family decided that they were cooking dinner for us tonight."

"Yes, yes we are" Bianca said, advancing on them. "Jackson is taking care of the salad, Myrtle is cooking dinner, and Lily is in charge of dessert since she learned how to make brownies in her life skills class last week. Maggie is setting the table and I think Miranda is out back chasing Reggie around. Mom and I are all over Will, so you two… GO" she said, pointing at the steps.

Kendall was about to protest when Zach threw her over his shoulder and turned toward the stairs. "You don't have to tell me twice. How long till dinner?"

"At least an hour" Bianca yelled up to him.

"See you then" he yelled as he rounded the corner to the master suite. He kicked the door closed with his foot and set Kendall down in the middle of the room. Before she could get a word out, he pulled her into a deep and sensual kiss.

He pulled back when he could feel his lungs near their exploding point. He sighed and smiled as she kissed him on the neck. "You said some very nice things about me down there."

Kendall pulled back and smiled. "You heard that, did you?"

He gazed lovingly into her eyes. "You know you are so much better than I deserve, right?"

She smiled back at him with the same look he was giving her. "Right back at you there, Mr. Slater." She leaned back in for a kiss and ran her fingers through his hair. She trailed a line of light kisses to his ear and whispered "So, whatever will we do for the next hour?"

Zach pulled back and tore off his shirt, then her shirt. He picked her up off the ground and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Well, how about we start with a shower and see where things lead from there" he said as he walked into the master bathroom as he placed hot open mouthed kisses all up and down her neck.

TBC… one more left!


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **This is the last chapter - I've really enjoyed writing it and I'm glad you all have enjoyed reading it. Thanks for all your thoughts!

* * *

Kendall stood there, looking at herself in the mirror, turning from side to side, cocking her head to one side, then the other. "I should have bought the other one."

"It's fine Kendall" Simone said for the hundredth time, not even looking up from her nail file this time.

Kendall looked at her friend in the mirror. "I'm serious, Simone. I don't know what in the world I was thinking. The other one was…"

Simone sighed and got up from the chair. She walked over to Kendall and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around to look in the mirror. "Kendall, it's beautiful and you are beautiful in it. The other dress was very pretty, don't get me wrong, but this one… it's perfect. We looked at a thousand dresses and yet you kept coming back to this one. Why? Oh yeah, because it's perfect. Now, chill out. You're making me motion sick with all the circles you keep doing."

"I know, but I want everything to be perfect and…"

Simone smiled at her friend. "You really think Zach would put in all this work and it would NOT be perfect. I'm sorry, have you met your husband?"

Kendall smiled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I would feel much better if…"

"What?"

"Well, if I could have had ANY say in what's happening today?"

Simone smirked. "You did. You got to pick out your dress. Now, I think you need a drink." Simone walked over to the bar and grabbed the chilling bottle of champagne out of the canister and poured three glasses. Simone was handing a glass to Kendall when Bianca walked into the room.

"OK, so it would seem that we've got some time to kill. Apparently the florist brought the wrong type of roses so he's got everyone scrambling. You know, I've never actually heard him yell that loudly before…"

Kendall groaned and collapsed next to Simone on the couch. Bianca smiled and sat down in the chair across from her sister and took a sip of the champagne that Simone had set out for her. "So, tell me again how Zach convinced you to be hands off of this event…" Kendall sat up and looked her sister in the eye.

_Three months earlier_

_Kendall was brushing her teeth while Zach put Will down for the night. She put her toothbrush back in the holder and started brushing her hair when she felt Zach walk up behind her. She smiled at him in the mirror as he wrapped his arms around her waist. _

"_I've been thinking about something" he whispered in her ear, kissing her lightly on her earlobe._

"_What's that?" she asked, putting her brush down on the countertop and leaning back into her husband._

"_Well, I kind of want to give you something."_

"_Presents!" she said, her eyes lighting up._

"_Well, not so much multiple presents as one big, huge present."_

"_Well, I love presents, so give away my love!"_

"_Great. So a wedding it is" he said, dropping his arms from around her waist and walking out into the bedroom. Kendall stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, trying to grasp what it was he had just said. When it finally hit her, she took off into the bedroom. He was lying on the bed, reading a book, acting very nonchalant about the whole thing._

"_Excuse me, but… WHAT?"_

_He slowly closed the book and placed it on the end table. He looked over at her and crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. "I said that I would like to give you a wedding."_

_She stood there with her mouth hanging open – he couldn't help but laugh out loud. It wasn't very often that he shocked his wife, so these moments were even more precious to him. _

"_What?" she asked again._

"_Will you come over here before you fall down?"_

_Slowly, she crawled up onto the bed and sat next to him. He pushed himself up and pulled her into his side, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I said that I want to give you a wedding."_

"_But we're already married. How can you give me a wedding when we are already married?"_

"_Fine, killjoy – call it a fabulous vow-renewal then. It's just… I look around this house, my office and, while I love the pictures that I have – the candids of us at the park, at Erica's… well, I just think it would be nice to be able to look down at my desk and see my wife in a wedding gown. I think it would be nice if there was a proper wedding picture of the two of us on the mantle to go with all the pictures of Will and Miranda. And, I think every girl deserves a wedding with guests and pictures and flowers and the whole shebang. I think you deserve it after everything you have been through over the last year and I want to do this for you. You ok with that?"_

_She couldn't help the tears that were falling down her face. A wedding or whatever… her and Zach. She couldn't think of anything better than that._

"_I'm more than ok with that. It's perfect. When?"_

"_New Year's Eve. Seems fitting, don't you think?  
_

_She smiled back, thinking back to that night – the night it all started. "It's perfect. At the casino?" Zach just nodded._

_Kendall shot up and stared at him. "Three months – there's a lot to do in so little time. Granted, I'm sure that Erica can pull every string we need her to but…"_

_Zach quieted her by putting his hand over her mouth. "Stop. I'm doing this for you – this is my gift to you. I want to wow with this. You've done so much this year – you've given so much of yourself to me, our son, your family. I can't even repay you for giving me Will, but I can try to make you happy. I'm doing this for you and all I ask is that you let me."_

_The warmth in his eyes was almost too much to bear. "So, I get no say in anything?"_

"_Of course not. You can have all the say in your dress."_

_She smirked at him. "Oh, I don't know – I think it would be pretty funny to see you in a bridal store, picking through hundreds of dresses. Or even better, dealing with the bridal department at Lacy's. In fact, I think you should…"_

_She squealed as he flipped her over and tickles her till she screams "UNCLE!" Zach lies on top of her and brushes the hair out of her face. "So, is this alright with you?"_

"_Its fine, I can't wait" she said, pulling him down into a luscious kiss._

"So, all a man has to do is say some cheesy words and promise you a party and you cave… yeah, now I remember why I'm a lesbian." Bianca says, smirking into her glass of champagne. Kendall just glared at her sister while Simone chuckled. They all sat quiet for a few minutes before Simone looked over at Kendall.

"Can I ask you something without stirring up the hornets nest?"

"This ought to be good" Kendall said to her sister. "Sure, Simone – shoot."

"Have you heard from Ryan? I mean…"

Kendall just sighed. "Yeah, actually, he came to see me one day."

Bianca and Simone sat straight up, staring at her. "Why didn't you say anything?" Bianca asked while Simone inquired "Does Zach know?"

"No, I was going to tell Zach after all this was over – tonight after the reception and I didn't say anything because it's not really a big deal."

"Not a big deal" Bianca yelled. "What do you mean? What happened?"

_Three weeks earlier_

_It was one of those days that Kendall had planned to work from the house. She had planned to spend a couple of hours on the phone, catching up on files and emails before spending the afternoon cleaning the house up and keeping Will entertained. They were in the process of starting to look for a fulltime nanny, but until then, they were splitting the time at home while the other went to work. Today, Zach was desperately needed at the casino. Everything was fine till Simone called and said that the West Coast shareholders needed to meet with her immediately. Ethan had gotten them on the next flight to Los Angeles. Babe was traveling to New York for the day to meet with the production managers, so someone needed to be in the Fusion offices, just in case. Kendall's day just got shot to hell._

_She walked into the Fusion offices a few hours later with Will in tow. Thank god she had been smart enough to bring toys and a collapsible bassinet to the office. She was responding to an email when she heard the elevator ding on their floor. Assuming it was the take out she ordered from BJ's, she instructed whoever it was to grab the money off the desk and just leave her order._

"_Kendall." She froze at the sound of his voice. She hadn't heard word one from him in months. She was glad that Erica had stopped giving her 'Ryan' updates months ago, so she hadn't even thought about him in some time. She slowly looked up from the computer monitor and saw him standing there, staring back at her. She took a deep breath and stood up from the desk._

"_Ryan." He just smiled at her, seemingly unsure of what to say. She looked him up and down for a moment before speaking again. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I just wanted… I thought I should…" he paused, looking at her. "I'm leaving town."_

"_OK?" she asked, looking at him confusedly._

"_Do you mind if I…" he said, pointing to the chair behind her. "Sure" she said, motioning for him to sit down. As he rounded her desk, he saw the bassinet and the baby inside, soundly asleep. "Oh my god" was all he could whisper. He looked back at her. "Can I…"_

"_Sure, but he just fell asleep, so…"_

_Ryan nodded and stood over the bassinet, looking down at the child. Kendall stood next to him, looking at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He was in awe of this child, this baby that was biologically his – a child he had never seen till right now. He looked at her and smiled. "He's perfect."_

"_Well, he has his moments" she said, tucking the blanket around him. Ryan cleared his throat and looked away. He quickly sat down in the chair and motioned for Kendall to do the same._

"_OK, so you said you were leaving?"_

"_Yeah. I…I found Greenlee. It took forever, but I finally found her. She's living in Savannah, working for a PR firm, so I thought I would… well, now seems like a good time. Erin and Jonathan left last week…"_

"_Wait, where did Erin and Jonathan go?"_

"_Phoenix. She got a job offer from a friend out there and she found a great program for Jonathan. It will help him learn how to live on his own and help him find a job and… well, he needed to get out of this town, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for them to go and I don't really have anything holding me here anymore and…well, I just want to see Greenlee and see if there is a chance to save things between us. I just…I wanted to let you know and I… I wanted to see him before I left" he said, motioning toward Will._

_Kendall gave him a sad smile and reached out to squeeze his hand. "I hope it all works out for you Ryan."_

_He smiled back at her. "Me too. So how are things… I mean the baby looks good, but how are…"_

"_Zach and I are good. He's planning this vow-renewal/wedding thing for New Year's Eve and we're in the process of trying to find a nanny for Will…"_

"_Will" he said, looking over at the baby again. "Erica told me… it's William Alexander, right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_That's a great name, Kendall. I mean it."_

_She smiled at him. "Thanks, Ryan."_

"_Well, I just…I guess I better get going." Ryan shot out of his chair and was halfway across the room before Kendall got turned around in hers. As she turned to face him, he turned back to face her._

"_Kendall, I wanted… well, I wanted to say I was sorry. I was really mad, but I had no right… it's your life and I had no right to try to tell you… you can't help who you love and to have someone question that – I can only imagine what that felt like, and I'm sorry. I really want you and Will to be happy and safe and it seems like you are."_

"_We are."_

"_Then that's all that matters. Again, I am sorry for the way I acted that night."_

"_Water under the bridge, Ryan. I'm where I need to be and I'm with who I should be with and life is great."_

_Ryan sighed. "Good. Well, I'm leaving tonight, so I just wanted to say bye. I'll keep my cell number, just in case you need anything but it seems like you and Will are in good hands, but you never know."_

_Kendall just nodded her head and smiled. He returned her smile and quickly exited. Kendall looked at her sleeping child for a moment before returning to her work, not giving a second thought to the man who just walked out of her life._

"So he left town without as much as a fight?" Simone asked, stunned.

Kendall just nodded. They heard a knock on the door and turned to see Edie stick her head in. "Ladies, it would seem that things are finally ready."

"It's about time!" Kendall said, popping up off the couch. She held out her arms for her friend and her sister. They all participated in the group hug. "We'll see you down there" Bianca whispered in her sister's ear. Simone and Bianca quickly left. Kendall looked at herself in the mirror one last time.

"You ready, Kendall?" Edie asked, holding out a bouquet of flowers.

"You bet your ass, Edie" Kendall said, smiling.

* * *

Kendall took a deep breath, staring at the doors – those French doors that a year ago had been an escape from what she thought were all judging eyes. It was just a year ago that she had used those doors to run from the whispers, the stares, the man she thought she could never have. But now, these doors were leading to her love, her life, her family and she couldn't be happier.

The doors were thrown open as the beginning strands of Pachbel's Cannon started to play. She walked out on the terrace and saw him there, waiting for her just like he always did. He looked delectable in his new tuxedo and the way he was looking at her – well, she suddenly felt like the sexiest woman alive. As she reached the end of the aisle, she smiled down at her son in the arms of her mother. She handed her bouquet off to her sister as Zach reached out for her. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"You looking stunning Mrs. Slater" he whispered in her ear.

"You don't look to shabby yourself there Mr. Slater" she whispered back, kissing him quickly on the cheek. He wrapped her arm in his and escorted her the rest of the way up the aisle to the waiting Justice of the Peace.

The Justice of the Peace motioned for everyone to sit before looking at the couple in front of him. "Ladies and Gentleman – we are gathered here today…."

THE END (but be on the lookout for the sequel – "When the Walls Came Tumbling Down")


End file.
